HOMES FOR VETERANS Expert: Prince George’s homeless population declining. A-6
The Gazette
NEWS: Port Towns residents concerned with restaurant plan. A-4
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
SPORTS: Bladensburg soccer player overcomes cancer with a great attitude. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, November 13, 2014
25 cents
Hyattsville reconsidering voting age
Paying tribute
n
Critics say 16- and 17-year-olds too immature to be able to vote for mayor, council BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Glenarden Veterans Memorial Committee members (from left) Cleo D. Simpson, John McGee and Thomas Eric-Williams stand during the national anthem at the grand opening of Veterans Memorial Park in Glenarden on Tuesday.
Bladensburg group seeks transparency in officials Committee gathers, uploads town financial documents to Dropbox n
BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
A group of Bladensburg residents, tired of what they say is a lack of transparency from elected officials, decided to take matters into their own hands and created a searchable website of town financial records and official documents.
The Dropbox site, launched by members of the Citizens Action Committee of Bladensburg in August, includes information on town meetings, town commissions and ordinances, as well as financial documents detailing purchases made by Mayor Walter James and council members with town-issued credit cards. But members of the 25 to 30-member committee, who have been trying to get officials to pay attention since forming the group last spring, say they’ve yet to find a solution to their main source of frustration.
“Our problem is, we’re not allowed to ask questions about their spending before they vote on things,” said committee member Steve Weitz. “We live here. This is our town, so we want to have some input.” Weitz said part of the problem is that elected officials go to many out-of-town conferences at the public’s expense, and residents don’t have any say in the matter. He said he would like to know, before a decision is made, how much a particular trip is going to cost. But James, who said he has
not had a chance to look at the documents on the site, maintained that officials have always been forthcoming with residents. James said he only attends three out-of-town events each year: the Maryland Municipal League conference in Ocean City, the CSTEM (Communications, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Challenge competition in Houston and the National League of Cities conference. “We’ve always been open and
Hyattsville is considering a measure to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in its next city election, but some community members question if younger voters could negatively impact elections. The Hyattsville City Council discussed the possibility of lowering its voting age with members of the Hyattsville Board of Elections during its Nov. 3 City Council meeting. Councilman Patrick Paschall (Ward 3) said he was proposing lowering the voting age as a way to create more excitement and engagement around voting. “Turnout in our last couple of elections has been abysmally and depressingly low,” Paschall said. “I want to create engagement around young people and interest in participating to vote.” Council Clerk Laura Reams said 943 people out of the city’s roughly 18,000 residents voted in the city’s May 2013 elections. Reams said the item is tentatively scheduled for further discussion at the council’s Dec. 1 meeting, and may vote on the matter early 2015. The city is scheduled to hold elections for mayor and five of its 10 city council seats in May 2015. Takoma Park lowered its voting age to 16 in 2013, becoming the first in the nation to do so. Jessie Carpenter, Takoma Park city clerk, said that in the city’s November 2013 election, the city had 55 16-and 17-year-olds registered to vote. “I’m grateful to Takoma Park for paving the way by showing that the world won’t end if you do something like this,” said Councilwoman Shani Warner (Ward 2). “What
See VOTE, Page A-7
Final section of ICC now open n
See BLADENSBURG, Page A-8
Laurel commuters will have another entry point to Intercounty Connector BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Beltsville, Glenarden retirees honored for community service Former physical education, English teachers inducted into Senior Citizens Hall of Fame n
BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Nearly 20 years after he retired from teaching physical education in Prince George’s County, Donald Conway of Beltsville still makes exercise and education a part of his regular routine — and that’s only part of the reason he was inducted into the Maryland Senior
See RETIREES, Page A-7
NEWS
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
Citizens Hall of Fame last month. Conway, 76 — who has honored for leading athletic activities for children throughout his career — and Delores Brown, 79, of Glenarden – who was honored for helping secure scholarships for students — were the only two county residents among 45 Marylanders inducted into the hall of fame during an Oct. 23 ceremony. Both had been nominated for their volunteer activities and service to their communities. Conway, 76, a trail master with the Freestate Happy Wanderers walking
B-7 A-2 B-5 B-3 A-9 B-1
SPOTLIGHT ON CONCERNS Parents say services, communication top problems at county schools. A-4
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Beltsville resident Donald Conway stands Nov. 7 near Queens Chapel United Methodist Church in Beltsville, the starting point for the latest 10-kilometer walk he designed for the Freestate Happy Wanderers walking club.
The Maryland State Highway Administration has announced it has opened the final section of the Intercounty Connector, or ICC, MD 200 to U.S. Route 1 in Laurel and the Konterra Drive at Interstate 95 Interchange, between the ICC and MD 198. Beginning Friday evening, crews began opening a total of 12 ramps, including on the ICC and on Konterra Drive, said SHA spokesman David Buck. He said the ramps will give Prince George’s County drivers a connection to Montgomery County that they didn’t have before, and it will connect Route 1 with I-95. “It’s another alternative now,” Buck said. “This will dramatically decrease the amount of congestion.” SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar said all the ramps were open by 7:30 a.m. Sunday. “It went well,” Gischlar said. “Everything seems to be working well.” The total cost of the project, which began construction in 2008 and is expected to be completed Monday, is slightly less than $2.5 billion, Buck said.
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