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NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
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BANKING ON STUDENTS Financial literacy efforts gain honors for educator. A-3
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Thursday, November 6, 2014
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ELECTION H ST
Despite strong county support, Brown loses
School board race a seven-vote split
Political analysts attribute loss to voter turnout, crossover voting n
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
Prince George’s analysts cite a lack of voter turnout, voters beginning to look beyond party lines and a failure to rally independent voters as to why Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown failed in his gubernatorial bid, but for Brown supporters, the loss was a disappointing end to a long election season. “I think we really did fight hard,” said Yolanda AppiahKubi of Mitchellville. “I think the lieutenant governor was definitely the better choice.” Another Brown supporter, Edith Beauchamp of Greenbelt, agreed. “I keep hoping I wake up to ‘Dewey defeats Truman’ and the numbers will somehow be there,” she said. “But I think a lot of people didn’t turn out to vote. It’s terribly disappointing.” As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, about 770,511 votes had been counted in favor of Brown while Hogan earned about 847,107 votes, according to unofficial election results. As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, the Prince George’s County Board of Elections was reporting about 38 percent of the county’s 544,677 registered voters cast their ballots. Brown of Mitchellville took the majority of the votes in Baltimore City, Charles, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to preliminary results from the Maryland State Board of Elections, but his victories there were not enough to close Hogan’s approximate 5 point lead.
See GOVERNOR, Page A-8
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BY JAMIE
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
The last absentee ballots will need to be counted next week to determine a winner in the Prince George’s County District 3 school board race, where incumbent Amber Waller trails challenger Dinora Hernandez by only seven votes. With only provisional and absentee ballots remaining to be counted, Hernandez, of Hyattsville, has 5,167 votes to West Hyattsville resident Waller’s 5,160 votes. All results are unofficial until certified by the Prince George’s County Board of Elections. Final absentee ballots are scheduled to be counted on Nov. 14, according to the Board of Elections website. District 3 encompasses Adelphi, Lewisdale, University Park, Hyattsville, Mount Rainier, Brentwood and North Brentwood. Waller has held her seat since 2007, when she was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy. Hernandez is a diversity liaison to County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D). Baker endorsed Hernandez and lobbied for her on Election Day. Other candidates endorsed by Baker and
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (left) concedes the Maryland governor’s race Tuesday at his election night gathering in College Park.
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Nine other ballot measures approved by wide margins BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Prince George’s County voters appear to have narrowly rejected a bid to increase term limits for the county exec-
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
She didn’t wear a polka-dot headscarf or a blue jumpsuit like the woman in the iconic 1940s image of Rosie the Riveter — but snapping rivets onto airplane wings is exactly what Wilma Foster of Laurel did during World War II, while her brothers and her fiance served in the military. “I knew why I was there, ’cause my brothers had been drafted,” said Foster, 89, of the time she spent at Fairchild Aircraft in Hagerstown, working on parts for PT-19 trainer planes along with other women. “I just wanted our boys to come home.” On Friday, Foster and her
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utive and County Council, but approved nine other county ballot questions. According to unofficial results from the Prince George’s County Board of Elections as of Wednesday, voters rejected Question J, 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent, which would have increased the number of consecutive four-year terms served by the county executive and County Council members from two to three. All results are unofficial until certified
by the Prince George’s County Board of Elections. Provisional and absentee ballots remain to be counted. William Cavitt, president of the Indian Head Highway Area Action Council, or IHHAAC, an association of south county civic and community groups, said the organization welcomed the news of Question J’s defeat. The IHHAAC and Cavitt opposed Question J, arguing that eight years
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daughters, Ann Marie Miller of Laurel, 67, and Margie Streicker of Reisterstown, 66, will perform the “Rosie the Riveter” song at the Laurel-Beltsville Senior Activity Center — in honor of Veterans Day on Nov. 11. The women, who founded the Laurel chapter of the American Rosie the Riveter Association in 2011, said they are frequently out in the community looking for “Rosies” — as the women who held traditionally male jobs during World War II are now known — giving presentations and sharing their stories. What the sisters said they have discovered is that until the national Rosie the Riveter Association was founded in 1998, not many of the women had talked about their work — in spite of how significant it was to the war effort. “Our country would not have won the war if it wasn’t for the women that went into the workforce,” Streicker. “They were mak-
ing all the planes.” The national nonprofit organization recognizes women who worked men’s jobs during World War II — as welders, shipyard workers and bullet makers among other occupations — according to the group’s website. Miller and Streicker said the Laurel chapter currently has seven “Rosies,” among them a woman who worked in an Ellicott City uniform factory, a woman who worked as a welder in a Boston shipyard and a woman who made bullet casings on a factory assembly line in Cumberland. Other “Rosies” who belong to the local chapter are: Lee Dunklee, Lorraine Miller, and Marjorie Gallun, all of Laurel; Mildred Carbine of Beltsville; Rena Van Buren of Wheaton; and Jeri McIntire of Boonsboro. Foster, who now has a wall
See ROSIES, Page A-8
‘WONDER GOAL’ Bladensburg wins boys soccer region, advances to state semifinals. B-1
should be enough time in office, and that Prince George’s County’s largely Democratic party base made it extremely difficult to dislodge incumbents. Voters first approved term limits in 1992. “It’s only gone away for a little while,” Cavitt said of the term limit extension. “Given the margin was relatively narrow, and given prior attempts [to repeal term
See LIMITS, Page A-9
Study: County teachers score second lowest New evaluation system rates 6.8 percent ‘highly effective’
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BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Wilma Foster of Laurel, who was a “Rosie the Riveter” for Fairchild Aircraft, working on PT-19 planes during WWII, uses a model to point out the part of the wing that was her responsibility.
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See BOARD, Page A-9
Voters narrowly reject plan to extend term limits
Local ‘Rosie the Riveter’ to perform in honor of Veterans’ Day BY
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Laurel group seeks out, celebrates WWII’s ‘Rosies’ n
Greenbelt incumbent falls, others keep seats
Volume 17, No. 45, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
Of Prince George’s County Public School’s 8,768 teachers, 564, or 6.4 percent, were ranked ineffective under the school system’s new teacher evaluation system, according to a state study. The statewide average was 2.8 percent, and only Dorcester County had a higher percentage of ineffective teachers, at 14.9 percent, according to the study by the Maryland State Department of Education. At least one in four teachers at 16 Prince George’s schools were rated
See STUDY, Page A-8