BIG BOOST Grant allows Port Towns to join art camp. A-3
NEWS: College Park author shares kitty tale a decade in the making. A-4
The Gazette
NORTHERN 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, July 31, 2014
25 cents
Drawing attention
Laurel restaurant hosting artist receptions Part of initiative to grow city’s arts and entertainment district n
BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Karen Isailovic of Laurel said her mother and her aunts have called her an artist since childhood, but she only discovered a passion for painting 10 years ago. That passion helped lead to Isailovic, 43, being the featured artist during a July 24 “Meet the Artist” happy hour at Olive on Main in downtown Laurel. The event marks the first in an ongoing event series organized at the newly-opened restaurant by the Laurel Arts District Committee and the City of Laurel in an effort to engage the community with art and culture, organizers said. The event attracted about 25 people, many of them connected to the art community. Isailovic said she mostly painted figures and landscapes until recently, when her 10- and 14-year-old daughters, who helped inspire her to return
See ARTIST, Page A-8
Town’s wildlife haven among hundreds of thousands certified nationwide n
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
In the mornings as he is setting out birdseed and peanuts, Tiegh Thompson of University Park said he often tries to mimic the calls of blue jays, cardinals and other birds that live in his leafy backyard. He said some birds feel so comfortable with him and the wildlife habitat he has been nurturing for 25 years that they fly over and pick the food out of his hand. Thompson, 71, a retired filmmaking professor, said he wanted to “recreate the forest” in his backyard when he began growing native trees, shrubs and flowers in the 1970s, in-
Residents will decide on Nov. 4 referendum
BY JAMIE
Second investigation launches to analyze nepotism allegation BY
EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
Now that Laurel’s hiring policies have been deemed “fundamentally sound,” a mediation company tapped by the city to look into a hiring
ALICE POPOVICI/THE GAZETTE
Karen Isailovic (left) and Marilyn Johnson, both of Laurel, discuss art July 24 at Olive on Main during the first of an ongoing “Meet the Artist” happy hour event series organized by the Laurel Arts District Committee and the City of Laurel.
spired by a nationwide landscaping trend that was moving toward forest-style backyards and away from the big lawn and exotic plant style more popular in the past. Since then, Thompson said has noticed more and more native plants and shrubs in his neighbors’ backyards as well. Thompson’s backyard is one of 420 wildlife habitats in Prince George’s County and more than 170,000 nationwide certified through the National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife program, said David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the organization. He said the wildlife federation has encouraged people to restore wildlife habitats and spend more time enjoying the outdoors since it was founded in 1973. “We’re continuing to gobble up
See BACKYARD, Page A-6
Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
complaint will now analyze whether those policies have been appropriately followed. Laurel hired the Annapolis-based mediation company The Platt Group Inc. in April after former Laurel police captain Carl DeWalt claimed the police department made an inappropriate civilian hire in January and that the decision amounted to nepotism. The first half of the Platt Group’s investigation examined the city’s documented hiring procedures and
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See COUNCIL, Page A-8
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Virginia site also under consideration BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Platt, who is handling the mediation, said he will now launch a second investigation into the specific accusations DeWalt made and determine whether Laurel’s hiring procedures were followed in the case in question. DeWalt, who was with the Laurel police department for 28 years before retiring in 2013, said he was involved in several cases tried before Platt while working for the department
Two Prince George’s County sites are among the three sites announced by the General Services Administration, or GSA, as possible sites for a new FBI headquarters. State and county officials are scheduled to a press conference at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., to announce the short list selections. One site is 82-acre site near the Greenbelt Metro station, located near Interstates 95/495 at Exit 24. The other Prince George’s site is an 88acre location in Landover, the site of the former Landover Mall, and is located near the intersections of Interstates 95/495 and Maryland 202. The third site is the GSA Franconia Warehouse Complex located near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Franconia Road in Fairfax County, Va., according to a GSA press release. A final decision on the site is not expected for some time. The GSA will conduct an environmental impact study, referred to as a National
See REPORT, Page A-8
See FBI, Page A-8
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Tiegh Thompson of University Park adds bird seed to one of several bird feeders in his University Park backyard.
evaluated testimony from Laurel employees, said Platt Group founder Steven Platt, a retired Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge. “The City of Laurel’s hiring policies, protocol and practices are state of the art, fundamentally sound, and are generally administered by the Mayor, City Administrator, Human Resource Office and Department Heads in a fair and efficient manner,” stated the Platt Group’s report, which was delivered to the city on July 21.
WHITE WATER RAPIDS Themed playground opens in Riverdale Park. A-3
Volume 17, No. 31, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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This fall, voters will decide whether the county executive and County Council members should be allowed a third consecutive term or be limited to the two terms currently allowed under the law. Before breaking for its August recess, the Prince George’s County Council unanimously approved a bill on July 23 to increase term limits for County Council members and the county executive from two to three consecutive four-year terms. Bradley Heard of Capitol Heights said that if the council wished to increase term limits, they should have excluded themselves. “The council members’ choice to make the expanded term limits applicable to themselves... shows that they were motivated primarily by self interest and self-preservation, and not by any desire to improve county government,” Heard said. The primary election, where four council members ran unopposed, was held June 24. The charter amendment, County Bill-54-2014, was
Greenbelt, Landover sites on FBI short list
NEWS
INDEX
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Report: Laurel’s hiring policies ‘fundamentally sound’ n
Council approves extending term limits n
University Park residents establish backyard habitat BY
SPORTS: Northwestern football has size, experience on the line. B-1