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SUMMER of THE
SUPERHEROES
The season assembles with Free Comic Book Day, box office blockbusters and local guy-turnedterminator J. August Richards as the cyborg Deathlok in “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Gazette-Star SERVING SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY COMMUNITIES
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Thursday, May 1, 2014
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Educators, local businesses join to improve schools
Furry fun day
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Education commission plans to compile ideas for future use by teachers, officials BY CHASE COOK STAFF WRITER
Kenmoor Middle School educators have been partner searching for months to help the Landover school build an outdoors classroom so its students could spend more time outside with hands-on activities. That search likely ended during the Sharing and Showcasing Education Excellence and Innovation in Prince George’s County summit at Greenbelt Middle School, an event held Tuesday to connect county schools with businesses and other
Glenarden is state’s second-safest city
City officials make extra trips for pickup, as some residents stick to plastic
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Police credit resident outreach, patrols for decrease in crimes
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BY CHASE COOK STAFF WRITER
ALICE POPOVICI
Bowie Public Works Department employees regret that they sometimes have to leave trash sitting on the curb. Prince George’s County started a new law in January that bans plastic bags from being used to collect yard waste, said Dan Layton, Bowie’s acting Public Works Department director. Residents now must place the waste in paper bags or bins, which are purchased by the owner and labeled “yard waste” for pickup. Not every resident has caught on to the
STAFF WRITER
Just a few years ago, Lamont Hepler, 67, would look outside his Glenarden home and see teenagers in off-road vehicles speeding up and down his street, groups of people loitering and drug activity. Now, he said the neighborhood is so quiet that he and his wife often sit on the front porch talking late into the night. “You turn this next corner, used to be you couldn’t even come down here in the evening,” Hepler said. Since 2005, the police department started doing neighborhood outreach and Hepler said the “relentless” efforts fighting crime have “completely slowed it down to a screeching halt.” Those efforts have been recognized as Glenarden was ranked the second safest in Maryland by Movoto Real Estate, in a three-way tie with two other communities. The San Mateo, Calif.based real estate brokerage firm came up with the ranking by weighing percapita crimes based on 2012 FBI crime statistics for communities with populations of 5,000 people or more on a curve based on the severity of the crimes and calculating how likely it would be for a resident to be a victim of any crime. “We like math and we like working with data,” said Randy Nelson, editor of Movoto’s blog. “Another way we could put our powers to good is to look at things like safety and affordability.”
Glenarden Police Chief Philip O’Donnell credits the improvement to effective community policing by the department’s 11 officers who patrol the streets, do community outreach and have developed sources who alert them to criminal activity. O’Donnell said Glenarden had no rapes or robberies in 2012; there was one homicide, 14 assaults, 20 burglaries, 71 thefts and 7 vehicle thefts. In 2013 there were no homicides or rapes, the number of assaults increased to 22 while the number of thefts went down to 56, and so far the crime numbers for 2014 are low. “The more people you know, the
Nonprofit aids 83 seniors and disabled county residents n
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Ultimate frisbee becomes a professional sport with the Breeze.
NEW HORIZONS
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Rolonda Fields, 65, said she was so overwhelmed by the “unbelievable” effort of about 35 volunteers who gave her Forestville home a much-needed makeover as part of nonprofit orga-
See SAFETY, Page A-7
Center flies to aid of the endangered whooping cranes.
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See PLASTIC, Page A-6
Volunteers give Christmas miracle, spring makeover
better information you get and the better you can deal with your crime issue,” O’Donnell said. “We have a good, stable police department.” Glenarden Mayor Dennis Smith said he attributes the city’s safety ranking to the work of the police department, the tightly-knit community as well as the city’s schools. “There’s a direct correlation between crime and educational performance of your children,” Smith said. “If you have kids who are performing well in school, then that [child] is less likely
SPORTS
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new rule, even though it is almost four months old, Layton said. Trash that does not meet the guidelines is not collected. A small group either doesn’t know about the change or tries to “push the system,” Layton said. “I think people just sort of forget we aren’t picking it up anymore,” Layton said. Melvin Thompson, solid waste superintendent for Bowie, said he didn’t have any specific numbers of people who use plastic. His office gets occasional complaints. Layton said he gets several calls a week after the Wednesday pickup from people questioning why their trash wasn’t collected. Prince George’s officials
ALICE POPOVICI/THE GAZETTE
Officer Karl Burnett of the Glenarden Police Department stops by the playground at the Glenarden/Theresa Banks Complex community center to chat with Jeremiah Richardson (left), 5, of Capitol Heights and Solomon Younger, 6, of Bowie.
NEWS
FINDING REFUGE
See EDUCATION, Page A-7
Yard waste rule poses challenge in Bowie
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Bowie resident Tara Kelley-Baker, acting president of the Bowie Citizens for Local Animal Welfare (CLAW), holds a Pomeranian dog named “Diva” during a pet adoption effort held by CLAW at the Bowie Town Center on Sunday. The public event featured adoptable pets from the Prince George’s County Animal Shelter.
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educators whose programs or services might benefit one another. Maha Fadli, principal of Kenmoor, said the event allowed the school to finally connect with an educational agriculture group that could help them build the outdoors classroom. “We would have never found them,” Fadli said. “It was a great networking opportunity.” The summit was held by the County Commission for Education Excellence to connect schools like Kenmoor with businesses and other education programs, said Aimee Olivo, commission chairwoman. These groups shared their needs and plans, which will be compiled and shared
nization Christmas in April’s annual outreach. “My porch looks so nice. My basement is cleaned out. My kitchen is presentable,” said Fields, a retired teacher as volunteers cleared the leaves in her yard, painted her kitchen and fixed her front porch’s broken railing. Fields was one of 83 Prince George’s County residents selected
See CHRISTMAS, Page A-6
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