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SERVING SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY COMMUNITIES
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Thursday, September 12, 2013
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Aiming for shorter bus routes
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Bowie nonprofit gives gift of music
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BY SOPHIE PETIT STAFF WRITER
BY SOPHIE PETIT STAFF WRITER
Largo High School senior Caleb Mackey’s teachers said they can’t keep the 18-year-old out of the music room, where he plays the piano daily when he’s not playing at home. Now the Largo teen will have more of a chance to play, thanks to a local nonprofit group that recently donated four pianos to the school. “Music class is the only class I really like,” said Mackey, who will attend college in Texas next fall. He will study music in hopes of becoming a record producer and movie score writer. “Everyone can experience and play [the pianos], so I’m really grateful.” On Aug. 27, members of the Foundation for the Advancement of Music and Education, Inc., a Bowie-based nonprofit devoted to giving all children access to music education, delivered seven pianos — three acoustic pianos and four electric keyboards — to three Prince George’s County public schools. The seven pianos were divided between Oxon Hill High School, Forestville Military Academy and Largo High, said A. Toni Lewis, who founded the nonprofit in 2004. When Lewis heard that Bowie State University moved into a new performing arts center with all new instruments, she said, she knew the university’s old pianos had to go to Prince George’s public schools and requested they be donated to F.A.M.E. “I go out to schools, do surveys and talk to the children, who will say, ‘I wish we had a piano in our class or I wish each one of us could have access to one,’” Lewis said. “There’s a lack and we need to all come together.” Lewis delivered the pianos to schools that either requested them or she knew had a need, she said. Last year, the nonprofit gave five donated pianos to Central High and Walker
See DONATION, Page A-7
Proposal would cut Bowie wait times in half
Bowie residents used to wait up to 40 minutes to catch a bus to the New Carrollton Metro Station, but they won’t wait more than 15 minutes if a recommended express line is approved, according to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials. The recommendation would transform the Bowie Park and Ride into a “bus hub” — a meeting point for Bowie bus lines as well as the sole entry point from Bowie to New Carrollton. Currently, buses from Bowie State University and the Crofton Park and Ride end at the New Carrollton Metro Station. “Instead of having each individual route go to New Carrollton on its own, we will have one of our existing buses on a new route,” said James Hamre, director of planning and scheduling at WMATA. The new direct express line to New Carrollton Metro Station would run every 10 to 15 minutes on weekdays, which would break up all the current long bus routes into shorter, more direct lines that would
See BUS, Page A-7
Glenarden owes IRS nearly $100K DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Music teacher Brandon Felder (right) listens to senior Kaleb Mackey, 18, play one of the electric keyboards recently donated to the Largo High School music program.
New mayor working to reduce debt caused by paperwork problems n
BY CHASE COOK STAFF WRITER
Parents make push for county Spanish immersion instruction n
Supporters say there’s interest, need for school program BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
A new parents group is hoping Prince George’s County Public Schools will say “si” to creating a Spanish immersion program. Gina Bowler of Upper Marlboro and Delores Millhouse of Bowie met while taking a weekend Spanish class for preschoolers and parents offered by a private company in Prince George’s County. The two decided to advocate for more Spanish-speaking options in the school system.
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“We discovered we had a very common interest in having our children learn Spanish as a second language, and we were hungry for resources to help us accomplish that,” Bowler said. Language immersion is a style of education in which students, beginning in kindergarten, are taught their core subjects by teachers speaking a foreign language. Millhouse and Bowler have created a website, www.mybilingualchild.weebly. com, along with a Twitter account and a Facebook page, for parents to learn more about Spanish immersion and language options in the area. They also have begun a survey on their
See SPANISH, Page A-7
RAPHAEL TALISMAN/FOR THE GAZETTE
Gina Bowler (back left) of Upper Marlboro sits with her daughter, Francesca Svizzero (front left), 4, and Delores Millhouse of Bowie sits with her children Sophia, 2, and Noah, 3. Bowler and Millhouse are urging county schools to create a Spanish immersion program.
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THE TROUBLE WITH TRANSFERS Changing schools sometimes can be a difficult process for student-athletes.
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RECYCLE
Dennis Smith walked into his office on his second day as Glenarden mayor and found a voicemail waiting for him. It was a message from the Internal Revenue Service, calling to inform the city it owed about $150,000 in fines, Smith said. It turned out, Smith said, the previous administration hadn’t submitted 1099s — an IRS form used to track money between small companies and individuals under contract — to non-city employees that performed services in excess of $600. None of the vendors received their paperwork, amounting to about 40 or so groups in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012, said Smith, who was sworn in July 1. “We are working diligently to resolve this issue,” Smith said. Municipalities not filing return information, such as 1099s, is one of the most common problems the IRS encounters, according to the IRS’s website. If municipalities or businesses don’t submit 1099s for their contracted services,
See GLENARDEN, Page A-7
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