LEADING THE WAY Bowie senior center achieves national honor. A-3
NEWS: Area food banks extend help to community with “Extra Helping.” A-4
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, November 20, 2014
Fort Washington woman records memories, advocacy work after Alzheimer’s diagnosis BY
25 cents
Bowie pledges nearly $1M to Marketplace
‘Living in the moment’ n
SPORTS: Bowie volleyball loses in state semifinals, but outlook for next year is good. B-1
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KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
Grand opening of new shopping center set for fall 2016
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At Bonnita Spikes’ Fort Washington apartment, framed newspaper clippings adorn the walls and crystal awards shine on her book shelves, all documenting her successful efforts to repeal the death penalty in Maryland. For Spikes, 61, these mementos may soon be the only way she’ll recall her accomplishments as her memory fades due to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. “It’s making me pause and appreciate everything I’ve been able to do with my life,” Spikes said. Spikes describes herself as a “retired nurse, organizer, troublemaker.” Since 2004, she has pushed Maryland lawmakers to repeal the death penalty, knocking on the doors of Democrats and Republicans alike with a framed portrait of her late husband in her arms. Her husband, Michael, was killed in a botched convenience store robbery in 1994 in New York, Spikes said. The culprits were never found, Spikes said, but she said life in prison is a worse punishment for murder because it’s “God’s decision who lives and dies.” “For someone who’s been through that kind of trauma with her family and young kids at the time, someone like her to be advocating against this kind of punishment says a lot about her and says a lot about her ability to forgive,” said Erek Barron, 40, of Mitchellville, who was recently elected to represent District 24 in the House of Delegates and worked with Spikes on the repeal effort. But while she was busy advocating with Maryland Citizens Against State Ex-
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
After more than two decades, a nearly vacant shopping center near Bowie High School is set to be demolished and redeveloped into a high-end residential complex and shopping center. The project hinges on a deal between Rockville-based prop-
erty owner Berman Enterprises and Harris Teeter, which will serve as the critical “grocery anchor” store, and the city of Bowie pledged nearly $1 million Monday night to ensure the deal goes through. Bowie Marketplace, located off Annapolis Road across from Bowie High School, has been deteriorating for years and is now the city’s lowest valued retail property at around $6 million, said John Henry King, Bowie’s director of economic development.
See MARKETPLACE, Page A-8
Largo eyed for language school KIRSTEN PETERSEN/THE GAZETTE
Bonnita Spikes, 61, records some of her memories in a journal at her Fort Washington apartment. Spikes, who advocated to repeal the death penalty in Maryland, is now coping with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. ecutions, or CASE, Spikes said she noticed changes in her mental health. Spikes said it became difficult to gather her thoughts in 2008 and she had trouble writing emails in 2010. In 2013, she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, the same year the Maryland General Assembly voted to repeal the death penalty. “I double book myself now. I’m afraid to go out,” Spikes said. “If I didn’t have
laughter, humor in me, I don’t think I’d be able to make it.” In 2014, the National Alzheimer’s Association estimated that 5.2 million Americans had the disease, but only 200,000 were younger than 65, like Spikes. Experts believe that Alzheimer’s disease is the result of several different risk factors, such as
See MOMENT, Page A-8
CEO cites access to transit, college in selection n
BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
A new school for English language learners will likely be placed within Largo High School, even though community members say it might heighten tension between students. Prince George’s County Public Schools CEO Kevin Max-
well said that although the location has not been finalized, Largo High is currently the top school under consideration for the site of one of two high schools being designed as an option for students whose native language isn’t English. “Right now, it’s our first choice, and we’d like to find a way to make it work at Largo,” Maxwell said, citing the school’s proximity to public transit and Prince George’s Community
See LANGUAGE, Page A-7
Bowie church, residents clash American Indian village County approves expansion, throws out recommendation for site n
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EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
Some homeowners living near Maranatha Adventist Fellowship church off MD 564 in Bowie are concerned that a new church renovation project will clog roadways, endanger pedestrians and harm the local ecosystem. While the Prince George’s County planning board unanimously approved the church’s new 29,000 square foot building Nov. 6, many neighbors are still uneasy about the sudden growth and what they call a lack of transparency. The new building will be nearly six times the
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church’s current structure, according to Maranatha pastor Uzooma Erondu. The Bowie City Council heard community concerns about the church expansion on Oct. 20 and recommended several conditions to the planning board, including the request of a public construction design plan. While planning board members attached several conditions to their decision — including the addition of a sidewalk and path alongside the property — the public site plan was not approved. Robert Koelsch of Bowie, who lives in a neighborhood adjacent to the church, said a site plan would have enhanced communication between the church and its neighbors by fully informing residents of the church’s plans. “I would like to see more of
the details,” he said. “They keep saying the [plans] are all preliminary, but my concern is once it’s all approved, details may not matter too much.” Rebecca Sunday of Bowie testified at the planning board meeting on Nov. 6 and said that, without a site plan, it would be difficult to tell how the church expansion would affect her property. “We are very concerned about the size of the church in its proposed location as well as many aspects of the proposed design,” she said. “We’ve invested a lot of money in our property, basically renovating the entire house and the yard. The placement of the church so close to our property line looming over us just doesn’t seem like the best design.”
See CHURCH, Page A-8
n Project revisited 13 years after proposal for Bladensburg park BY
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
Keenan Alexander, 13, of Upper Marlboro said he’s studying U.S. History in school, but he hasn’t heard his teachers mention American Indians or even the Piscataway Indian Nation, which has origins in Maryland. But Saturday morning, Keenan found himself getting a hands-on education in
See VILLAGE, Page A-8
NEWS B-7 A-2 B-5 B-3 A-9 B-1
ON TO THE SEMIS Oxon Hill Middle School advances in Science Bowl competition.
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on way to Upper Marlboro
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Keenan Alexander, 13, of Upper Marlboro shaves the bark off a tree limb that will be used to build the longhouse at the American Indian Village at Patuxent River Park in Upper Marlboro.