CALL FOR CAUTION NAACP doesn’t want cell towers on school grounds. A-3
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NEWS: Kettering art studio paints a pretty picture of creativity. A-6
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, September 11, 2014
Bowie weighs boosting gym fees n
25 cents
Pay hike sought for top officials
Running for cancer awareness
Increase would affect residents, nonprofit sports teams
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Residents question amount of boost in context of furloughs, budget cuts
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BY JAMIE
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY
If the Bowie Council agrees on a recommended increase for city gym fees, residents could be paying up to 29 percent more for their annual memberships, but the local Boys and Girls Club chapters will be most affected by the price hike. The council considered a proposal from the community recreation committee Sept. 2 that would raise the cost of renting two courts at the gym from $30 to $40 an hour for local nonprofits, and from $60 to $120 for non-local nonprofits. Boys and Girls Club sports programs account for about 99 percent of city gym court rentals, said City Manager David Deutsch. Carrie Bridges, basketball commissioner for the South Bowie Boys and Girls Club, said a gym rental increase would force her to raise rates for the members of her 20 teams, who paid $80 per person last season. Dwayne Gray, commissioner for the Bowie Boys and Girls Club basketball program, said many of his approximately 80 teams practice at the city gym several days a week and said the fee increase would cost him an estimated $2,000 per season. The proposed gym fee increase would be the first in seven years at the Bowie City Gym, according to a memo sent by Harlan Tucker, chairman of the community recreation committee. “Based upon a survey of fees charged by facilities in the surrounding areas, it was determined that our fees were generally lower,” Tucker said in the letter. “Our committee has agreed that our rates should be increased.” According to data provided by Deutsch to the City Council, the city gym’s expenses have increased by about $352,000 since its first year of operation in 2002 and revenue has increased by about $114,000. Gray and Bridges said the proposed rate increase comes at a time when the local Boys and Girls Club’s sports programs are already facing challenges related to practice space. Over the past five years, the programs have been granted a decreasing amount of practice time at local school gyms. A city
See GYM, Page A-10
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said. “I still have my body, I still have my health. If I do something it’s got to be big, it’s got to be out there. It wouldn’t be something people dream of doing.” Although he has run marathon distances before and was a member of his high school’s cross country and track teams, Priest said he has never participated in a marathon race. Priest will start the run from his Fort Washington home and arrive at his grandmother’s home
A Prince George’s County Council proposal to raise the pay of its members and the county executive is coming under fire from some residents due to the amount of the increase and the timing. “In recent years, the county has had to impose furloughs on county workers and also yank money from public schools just to make its annual budget balance,” said Bradley Heard of Capitol Heights. “They can’t seriously believe fattening their own paychecks is in the public interest.” County Bill 68-2014 came up for introduction before the Prince George’s County Council on Sept. 2 and is under review. The bill, proposed by County Council Chairman Mel Franklin (Dist. 9) of Upper Marlboro, would increase the county executive’s pay from $187,753 to $197,141 and council members’ pay from $102,486 to $108,902 in December 2014, the start of the new council’s term, with an additional $10,000 and $5,000 increase, respectively, in December 2015. According to a survey done last year by the Maryland Association of Counties, Rushern Baker III already is the highest-paid county executive in the state, with the Montgomery County executive coming in second at $180,250 per year. Prince George’s council members are the second highest paid in the state, with Montgomery County paying the most at $104,022 per year. Prince George’s and Montgomery county council positions are considered full time. However, Montgomery County approved an increase for its executive and council set to take effect
See ROAD, Page A-9
See PAY, Page A-10
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Thomas “R.J.” Priest of Fort Washington is raising money to help pay for his grandmother’s cancer treatment.
Fort Washington man hits road BY
T
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
wo hundred miles. Two days. Two pairs of shoes. That’s what Thomas “R.J.” Priest says it will take to save his grandmother. The 30-year-old electrical contractor will run 200 miles from his Fort Washington home to Hampton, Va., Sept. 19 to raise funds to help his grandmother, Nancy Louise Adams, 76, who is being treated for lung cancer. “My grandmother is definitely
by far the single most caring, loving, giving person I have ever met in my life,” Priest said. “She has given away everything she has ever had to help others. I think it’s time somebody starts giving back to her.” Priest said he had started working out in January to lose weight and get in shape, but when he learned his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to up the ante and train for an ultra-marathon. “It was literally the first thing that popped into my mind,” Priest
Residents divided on proposed term limit change Voters to decide on measure Nov. 4
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BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Voters will decide whether the Prince George’s County executive and council should get a third term when they vote on a term limit referendum question on the Nov. 4 ballot, but some local groups
are already mobilizing in opposition to the measure. A referendum increasing the county executive and council’s term limits from two to three was approved unanimously on July 23 by the County Council to go onto the fall gubernatorial ballot, where it will appear as “Question J.” William Missouri of Mitchellville co-chaired the seven-member Prince George’s County Charter Review Commission, which recommended the term
limit increase. Missouri, a retired Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge, said having two-term limits may keep good candidates who’ve worked outside government from running, as it requires 10 years in government to be fully vested in the retirement plan. “They wouldn’t receive any pension whatsoever because they’d be two years shy of the vesting requirement,” Missouri said.
Bowie event celebrates the arts Inaugural effort to showcase artists, honor patrons n
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
When Owen Adams of Bowie was performing with his high school band, the teenagers would play anywhere
in Bowie they could set up their equipment — from pizza places to parking lots, he said. Now 24-years-old, the classically trained pianist will take the stage at the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts on Friday as a representative of the art community that allowed him to grow and flourish as a musician. Adams is one of the artists
scheduled to perform at the inaugural Bowie Celebrates the Arts Event, a artist showcase and awards night hosted by the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts. Mary Nusser, outreach coordinator for BCPA said 2014 marks the center’s 10th anniversary.
See ARTS, Page A-10
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ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
WINNING AT ‘BIGGEST LOSER’ Former professional tennis star plans to succeed on weight loss reality show.
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SPORTS: Bishop McNamara kicker is the first girl to play football in the WCAC. B-1
Missouri said the turnover also created a lack of institutional knowledge and experience. Shabnam Ahmed, former school board student member and political activist, is working to create a movement around election reform in Prince George’s County, and has taken up the term limit issue. She’s created a website, nothreeterms.com, and an accompany-
See TERM, Page A-10 Derrick Thompson of Bowie hangs a piece from his gallery, Overdue Recognition, in preparation for Bowie Celebrates the Arts on Friday. EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY/ THE GAZETTE