Laurel 061115

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DRUG RINGS BUSTED Indictments lead to arrests in county. A-4

The Gazette

NEWS: Hollywood Elementary School’s principal stepping down after 22 years. A-3

NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y

SPORTS: Hundreds of children to start swimming for their neighborhood teams. B-1

DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T

Thursday, June 11, 2015

25 cents

County Council overturns veto of tax increase Baker to make decision on rest of budget by next week

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BY JAMIE

ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER

By a unanimous vote, the Prince George’s County Council overturned the county executive’s veto of a 5 per-

cent property tax increase to go toward the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. “With all due respect to our county executive ... this veto is disappointing and irresponsible,” County Council Chairman Mel Franklin (D-Dist. 9) of Upper Marlboro said prior to the vote Tuesday afternoon. Franklin said the tax increase, from

27.9 cents to 29.4 cents per $100 of assessed value, was needed to address the department’s structural deficit and to avoid significantly higher tax increases further down the road or drastic cuts to youth programs. “These programs are not luxuries or extra; they are essential to building stronger and healthy youth and communities,” Franklin said.

The vote marks the first time the council has overturned a Baker veto. Baker’s only other veto, of a 2011 bill that would have created a special mediation process for disputes involving common ownership facilities, failed to get more than one vote to overturn, according to media reports at the time. Baker said in a statement following the vote that he was disappointed in the

council’s decision. “While I’m not surprised at the County Council’s decision, it is certainly unfortunate that they chose to raise people’s taxes for more parks and recreation, something we don’t need at this time. We already have world class facilities and programs for our youth

See TAX, Page A-9

New date for Konterra Town Center is 2018 Construction on entrance to begin this summer n

BY

KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER

KIRSTEN PETERSEN/THE GAZETTE

Dwayne Jones, Laurel High School principal and a former student at Oaklands Elementary School in Laurel, breaks ground to dig for a time capsule buried in 1989. The school celebrated its 50th anniversary Friday with a ceremony and picnic.

Oaklands celebrates 50 years

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School digs up 25-year time capsule, hosts former teacher, student BY

KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER

Students at Oaklands Elementary School in Laurel didn’t need to dig up a time capsule to unearth the school’s 50 year history — all they needed were a few memories from a founding teacher and a former student.

“I enjoyed how they explained to us how it was before,” said David Ajomale, 10, of Laurel. “I found out our school is getting better and better.” Louise Craig, 86, of Greenbelt, one of the school’s first teachers, and Dwayne Jones, current principal at Laurel High School and a former Oaklands student, visited Oaklands on Friday as the school commemorated its 50th anniversary with student performances and presentations. The school first opened in February 1964.

Craig, who worked at Oaklands from 1964 to 1983 as a third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teacher, said the students and staff enjoyed the school because “everybody loved the kids.” “It was like going from home to going to home,” Craig said. “This was a home for learning.” Craig recalled walking into the brand new building and the years when class pets were

See 50, Page A-9

Laurel coach inspires ‘love of the game’ with activities

BY

KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER

Joni Warner has played for her university’s soccer team and trained under one of the United Kingdom’s professional football programs, but she said got her start having a ball with a recreational soccer team.

INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports

Joni Warner, a coach with the Greater Laurel United Soccer Club, gets ready to chase after a soccer ball in a one-on-one match against Jordi Moran, 6, of Laurel. Andres Moran, 9, of Laurel tosses the ball as Tyler Lam, 10, of Ellicott City looks on. KIRSTEN PETERSEN/ THE GAZETTE

See SOCCER, Page A-9

City hopes commuter-friendly spot, hours will attract more n

STAFF WRITER

New vendors, a new time and new vendors are all on the menu for the Hyattsville Farmers Market, which premiered at its new location at 3799 East-West Highway on June 2. “We have a lot of new and exciting surprises this year,” said Ellarose Preston, Hyattsville administrative aide and market manager. The Hyattsville Farmers Market is now in its 24th season, but only its second year under city management, Preston said. Preston said that in

spring 2014, the city received word that the long-time market manager, Peggy Campanella of Lothienbased Harris Orchards, was retiring. “The City Council decided that this was a valuable resource for the community and didn’t want to lose it, so they decided the city would take it over,” Preston said. This year, the market moved from the old BB&T Bank property, which the city is in the early stages of converting into a new police station. “We wanted a more visible location. Before it was hidden behind the building, but here we’re at the corner of a very busy intersection, so we thought that would help the market grow,” Preston said.

See MARKET, Page A-9

NEWS B-8 A-2 B-6 B-3 A-9 B-1

CARRY ON Laurel police join Maryland Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics. A-6

Volume 18, No. 24, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette Please

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MUNICIPAL SCENE

Advertising Supplement

GAZ LADIESNIGHTOUT FRONT

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See CENTER, Page A-9

Market crops up in new location BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU

Soccer standout brings expertise, fun to youth “I remember the summer camps and what made it fun,” Warner said. “It was the coaches that would laugh around with you.” Now as a coach for the Greater Laurel United Soccer Club, Warner, 22, of Bath, U.K., is bringing the fun atmosphere she enjoyed as a child to the club’s 400 youth. “She is not only a great soccer knowledge person. She is just able to relate to

Although the developers of Konterra Town Center East quietly pushed back the project’s opening date to 2018, Laurel residents and city officials say they would prefer quality over expediency when it comes to completing the 1.5 millionsquare-foot retail center. Caleb Gould, a principal of Konterra, confirmed 2018 as the target date but said the site — a former sand and gravel mine located along Interstate 95 in Laurel — does not lay dormant. Construction has focused on building infrastructure, including the Konterra Drive interchange, located between the Intercounty Connector and Md. Route 198. The previous opening date was 2015.

“We’ve continued to build and built numerous buildings here over the years. We’re on a continuum,” Gould said. “Clearly the target date we had on the old website was really not relevant, so we pushed it out.” The town center’s design, which also includes 3.8 million square feet of office space, 4,500 new multifamily rental and condominium residences and 600 hotel rooms, remains unchanged, Gould said. “This could be the jewel of this generation of Goulds if they can get it off the ground,” said Laurel City Councilman Michael Leszcz (At-Large). “That’s a big project, and it’s very dense.” While no official announcement or groundbreaking ceremony is planned, Gould said residents will see more development at the site this summer when the entrance to the

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