SECURITY SAFEGUARDS County businesses work to prevent data breaches. A-6
Gazette-Star
NEWS: Bowie man digs deep to provide clean water to the poor in India. A-3
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
SPORTS: Bowie High’s boys soccer playoff hopes rest on three-year starter in goal. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, October 30, 2014
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English learners program sparks Largo concerns Questions raised about high school’s possible selection n
BY
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
Some Largo High School parents say they are disappointed they were not asked for their input before the school was considered as a site for a non-native English speakers program. The CASA-Internationals Community High Schools program would offer a small school environment for English language learners, said Prince
George’s County Public Schools’ spokesman Max Pugh. Largo has been discussed as one of two sites for the program, but the site selection has not been finalized, Pugh said. The second site will be in Langley Park but a specific location has not been determined, Pugh said. Each school will start with 100 students during the 2015-2016 academic year and expand with a new class annually. Valerie White, president of the Largo High School PTSA, said the PTSA is not completely opposed to the program, but members want the program
See ENGLISH, Page A-6
Church’s growth Clinton quarterback tackles disorder hits a roadblock PHOTOS BY GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Lauren Mingo, 9, (standing, left, and below) of the Silver Hill Boys and Girls Club prepares to run the offense in a youth football game against Kentland-Columbia Park Boys and Girls Club at the Kentland Community Center Park in Landover on Saturday.
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10-year-old athlete keeps active despite health conditions BY
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KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
auren Mingo, 10, of Clinton says she isn’t “soft” like other girls her age — she’s aggressive and competitive, qualities that help her shine as a backup quarterback on her tackle football team. “When I hit them hard, they hit me hard back,” Lauren said. So when Lauren was diagnosed last year with transient bone marrow edema — a painful condition resulting from an increase of blood flow in the bone — and had an epileptic seizure in May, she reacted just like she would on the field. She
pushed back. “I just like playing so much I don’t feel the pain,” Lauren said. Lauren’s father, Orren Mingo, 47, of
Clinton said he knew his daughter could become a talented athlete when, at four years old, she could bat eight of the 10 balls he tossed to her. “We just noticed when she was little she was very coordinated,” Mingo said. “That’s how it took off.” She has played soccer, tennis, baseball, basketball, football, run track and cheered. Until she joined the all-girls Team Takeover basketball team, Lauren had only played on boys teams, which could complement her aggression on the field, her parents said. “I just like playing just to play and have something to do to be athletic,” Lauren said.
See DISORDER, Page A-4
Residents raise traffic, safety concerns about building expansion
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BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
A smile flashes across The Rev. Uzooma Erondu’s face when he talks about his Bowie church, Maranatha Adventist Fellowship, growing and changing, but some of Erondu’s neighbors are not as happy about church expansion they say is too large for their residential community. Maranatha has been holding
services in an approximate 5,000 square foot building off MD Route 564 for about six years, Erondu said, and is currently seeking permits for a replacement building of nearly 29,000 square feet. Some residents say parking and traffic are already an issue in the neighborhoods near the church and that a larger building with more parishioners would exacerbate the problem, posing a safety risk to pedestrians. Robert Koelsch of Bowie, who lives near the church, said church members will be forced to park along the road if the
See CHURCH, Page A-6
Bowie fires up battle County’s local legends offer good scare Residents share their on global warming theories on Goatman n
Council sets goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions n
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
Bowie officials and city staff have taken aim at a big, green target, but they say they will need every resident’s help to hit a bull’s-eye. Council members voted Oct. 20 to set a city-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of 20 percent by 2020.
The percentage is similar to the targets set by the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore, and, if achieved, would reduce harmful gases by about 70,000 metric tons, according to a memorandum from city manager David Deutsch. “I think the goals are challenging, but are they doable? Yes,” said Bowie Mayor G. Frederick Robinson. “It requires all of us to make a conscious effort on our parts.” A recent city purchase of two electric motorcycles for the
See WARMING, Page A-4
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
and other spooky tales
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
A mad scientist mutated into a goat-like creature. A phantom baby crying in the night. An abandoned sanitarium haunted by the souls of long-dead patients. Each Halloween, these stories resurface — Prince George’s County’s own set of fearsome folktales passed down through generations with just enough factual de-
See LEGENDS, Page A-8
NEWS B-8 A-2 B-6 B-3 A-9 B-1
ON TO THE NEXT ROUND Laurel school advances in Science Bowl competition.
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tail to excite listeners’ darkest fears. According to Barry Pearson, a folklorist and English professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, the tales fulfill a kind of collective appetite for the frightening or the unexplained. “Why are some stories told over and over again? There’s something there that we need,” he said. Pearson, a Hyattsville resident, has tracked the history of several local legends over the past few decades, including what he refers to as the most popular ghoul: Goatman.
Volume 17, No. 44, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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PROVIDED BY THE PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Glenn Dale Hospital is a former tuberculosis sanitarium that was abandoned in 1981, but urban legends have made up a much more eerie history for the property.