BATTLING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Largo group receives grant to aid its efforts. A-4
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MY FAVORITE TEACHER Meet the winners of the Gazette-Star’s annual contest inside today.
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
PROMOTIONAL SUPPLEMENT
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Bowie seniors set for winter concert BY
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25 cents
Legislators to consider bag fee, ban
On with the show
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EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY
Over 20 county bills to be presented BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU
STAFF WRITER
hat has more than 200 legs, is covered in sequins and just sold out the 700-seat Bowie Center for the Performing Arts? It’s the Bowie Senior Chorale — a community choir of more than 100 area residents, age 55 and older, that will perform two sold-out shows today and Dec. 19. The concerts benefit the Bowie Food Pantry and also help support the chorale throughout the year, according to chorale organizers. Attired in festive green tops and sequin ties hand-sewn by chorale member Patte Sweeney of Bowie, the group will share a repertoire ranging from traditional holiday hits to pop tunes this year, following a theme of “darkness to light,” said chorale director Craig Sparks. “The songs get progressively lighter,” said Sparks of Odenton. “I try and plan not just for what the choir already knows and loves, but for the audience as well. We try very hard to put on a good show and make sure it’s entertaining.” The chorale’s spring concerts, scheduled for May 14 and May 20, will have its own theme, Sparks said. The Bowie Senior Chorale began in 2003 when a group of around 30 area seniors in a music appreciation class roped their teacher into forming a singing group,
STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
(Above) The Bowie Senior Chorale practices Dec. 4 at the Bowie Senior Center. (Below) Judy Terry of Bowie takes a break from practice.
Bowie adds eighth speed camera in city
See CHORALE, Page A-5
Arrowhead Elementary enters $10k contest for smoothie bar
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KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
Teachers at Arrowhead Elementary School in Upper Marlboro are hoping to mix up their students’ day in a delicious way with help from a $10,000 Nutribul-
let grant. Lauren Sipe, the school’s counselor, applied on behalf of Arrowhead for the Nutribullet #BeTheNextUni contest, which awards Nutribullet blenders as well as produce and informational materials to five schools nationwide. If the school wins the contest, Sipe said the grant funds would be used to create a mobile smoothie bar. Contest results are set to be announced in January.
A retail bag fee, a retail bag ban and a prohibition on school board-issued credit cards are among over 20 bills under consideration by the Prince George’s County Delegation for the upcoming 2015 General Assembly legislative session. PG416-15 would authorize Prince George’s to impose a fee on disposable paper and plastic bags used in retail establishments, similar to five-cent fees already charged in Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Dist. 22) of Hyattsville said there is enough support to pass the bag fee this year. It has failed to pass out of the delegation for the past four years, which Pinsky said is due to lob-
See BAG, Page A-6
said founding member Patte Sweeney, 83. The chorale’s original director, Dale Nunemaker, fell ill before the chorale’s first performance and Sparks took over the position while his mother, Paula Sparks, accompanied on piano, Sweeney said. “We didn’t know his health was as bad as it was,” she said. “Dale was able to attend that concert in December, then that following January he passed away. But he was able to come and hear what he
Upper Marlboro school blends fun, health BY
SPORTS: Douglass takes home its first football state championship. B-1
“If we teach it early on and they enjoy eating fruits and vegetables early on, it will become a habit that we hope they carry on until they’re adults,” Sipe said. Sipe, who is a certified health coach, and school nurse Melanie Fulford have started several health initiatives at Arrowhead. The pair puts on a Reebok morning fitness program called “BOKS” and organized a student wellness committee, which plans school-wide
Fine revenue down by about $1 million since 2012, police say n
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EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY
healthy eating challenges. Sipe said she’s even brought in her own blender for school smoothie parties. Still, Fulford said she sees a variety of health issues in her students. Students as young as kindergartners have demonstrated a risk of obesity, diabetes or asthma, Fulford said. She added that children get exhausted more easily
A new speed camera coming to Bowie promises to make the community safer — and not just by slowing down drivers. The camera is being installed on Collington Road near Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, and will increase speed camera fine revenues, which are put toward public safety efforts in the city, said Bowie Police Chief John Nesky. Revenues from Bowie speed camera fines have
See SCHOOL, Page A-6
See CAMERA, Page A-6
STAFF WRITER
Springdale ‘Thanksgiving puppy’ still without owner Firefighters hope to adopt dog that wandered into their station n
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
Gizmo, a 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier that wandered into a Springdale fire station early Thanksgiving morning is now awaiting a holiday miracle, specifically, an adoption. Among those hoping to be
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considered as owners or foster owners are some of the same firefighters of the St. Joseph fire department who took in the small dog on Nov. 27, said firefighter Patrick Monahan. Members of St. Joseph were returning from a call shortly after midnight when they found the Yorkshire waiting outside the station, Monahan said. “We just brought him inside to try to see if anybody else from the station knew where he came from,” Monahan re-
called. “He was a nice little dog, everyone was friendly with him and played with him and everything.” Although the dog, which firefighters nicknamed Gizmo, had a collar, he didn’t have any tags or a microchip so firefighters spent several hours Thanksgiving morning knocking on doors in the community to try to find his owner, Monahan said. Gizmo was taken to the Calvert County Humane Society awaiting adoption,
according to Prince George’s County animal management. After putting the word out through social media and receiving more than 50 nonproductive inquiries, the fire department turned Gizmo over to Prince George’s County animal management Nov. 28, said county fire department spokesman Mark Brady. Rodney Taylor, associate director of animal management, said Gizmo’s stray dog holding period at the shelter
expired Friday. A potential owner who came to the county shelter Dec. 2 was unsure it was really his dog and did not return to claim the Yorkshire, Taylor said. But Gizmo was not forgotten. The shelter received inquiries from several parties wishing to adopt him, Taylor said. “He seems to be a very hot topic, which is a great thing,”
See PUPPY, Page A-5
NEWS B-7 A-2 B-6 A-7 A-10 B-1
END OF THE LINE Ogle Middle School battles in Science Bowl competition.
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Volume 17, No. 50, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
“Gizmo,” a 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier, wandered into a Springdale fire station Thanksgiving morning.