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Off the Quill theater troupe preps ‘The Creation of the World and Other Business.’ B-1
The Gazette SERVING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY COMMUNITIES
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Thursday, March 27, 2014
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Hyattsville sees increase in thefts at start of 2014
Exploring creativity
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Group of teens appears responsible, police say
BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Fourth-graders at Bond Mill Elementary School in Laurel have won the regional Destination Imagination competition and will go on to compete at the state level. Members of the team are (from left, kneeling) Kenny Graninger, 9; and Haley Bateman, 9; (standing from left) Amy Lepore, 10; Grace Beck, 10; Michael Stroud, 10; Marcus Jones, 10; and Peyton Ridgely, 10.
Hyattsville experienced a jump in thefts the first two months this year, but Police Chief Douglas Holland said recent police work should bring that number down. “It’s certainly an uncomfortable increase to start the year with,” Holland said during a community meeting attended by about 20 people at First United Methodist Church on March 11. The number of thefts occurring from January to February increased from 108 in 2013 to 160 in 2014, according to police statistics, and the number of robberies doubled from
eight to 16. Det. Cinama Smithers, with the HPD Criminal Investigations section, said a group of teens, ages 14 to 19, appear to have been responsible for many of the robberies and thefts at the start of 2014. Many of the incidents took place around the Zip In gas station near the Prince George’s Plaza Metro station and The Mall at Prince Georges. Smithers said four individuals were arrested and others have since left the area after being evicted from their city apartment. “We still have some ongoing investigations, but we think they have mostly moved out of the area,” Smithers said. City Councilwoman Shani Warner (Ward 2), who is also co-captain
See THEFTS, Page A-7
Laurel students advance to state contest Brentwood farmers BY
EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
A group of Laurel fourth-graders are heading to a state competition armed with their wits, a musical number, an environmental message and a giant papiermache box of baking soda. The seven students, who attend Bond Mill Elementary School, won their bracket in the county-level Destination Imagination competition — a national problem-solving competition played at
the primary and secondary school levels. Led by Donna Albrecht, a third grade teacher at Bond Mill, the team will compete in the state Destination Imagination tournament on April 5 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Albrecht, who has been leading Destination Imagination teams at Bond Mill for 11 years, said this year’s team chose a challenge that involves detecting and removing an item from a box without touching it. The team was given a budget of $185 to build the contraption and pre-
sentation materials, she said. Albrecht said the students often met at her house during the weekends to work on their project — sometimes up to eight hours each day. “These kids work incredibly hard. They work on the weekends, they work after school,” she said. “When we had all those snow days, they didn’t have snow days. They worked [on their project].” Destination Imagination offers par-
See CREATIVITY, Page A-8
University Park plans veterans memorial Designers incorporate natural, digital features
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BY
EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
University Park has released plans for its longawaited veterans memorial garden, which designers hope
will be a “living” tribute in more ways than one. The design took around two years to develop. It includes a rain garden and a symbol visitors will be able scan with a smartphone or tablet to access digital information about University Park veterans. Known as a “QR,” or
Quick Response, code, the square symbol will be inscribed somewhere on the seat wall in the proposed garden, said Stephen Cook, a landscape architect and chairman of the memorial design advisory committee. “It’s been talked about as being a ‘living memorial,’ and a living piece of it could be
digital,” Cook said. “The input so far has been very complementary of the design.” University Park resident Tiegh Thompson, an Army veteran and member of the design advisory committee, said the garden will preserve the memory of more than 160
See MEMORIAL, Page A-8
market takes root in abandoned auto lot n
Temporary garden and booths to transform vacant site BY
EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
Later this spring, an abandoned auto lot in Brentwood will be filled with sunflowers, public art pieces and community workshops, and by November, it will all be gone. On June 6, the Route 1 Farmers’ Market and Bazaar will open at 4100 Rhode Island Ave. in Brentwood as a “pop-up,” or temporary community space. The Prince George’s County-owned lot is scheduled for development starting late 2014, so the market and bazaar will make use
of the field while it is available. North Brentwood-based nonprofit Gateway Community Development Corp. is leading the $20,000 project using funding from an Art Place America grant dispersed through Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier. “This is really about inclusivity and bringing people together from all walks of life,” said Carole Bernard, executive director of Gateway CDC. “We hope to capitalize on the culture here and embrace that through food, through activities, producing things in multiple languages.” The Route 1 Farmers’ Market and Bazaar will feature booths for 25 farmers, local crafters, a garden with
See MARKET, Page A-7
‘My destiny is to help people’ University of Maryland graduate forms nonprofit to help women n
BY
EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
At 23 years old, Odunola Ojewumi of Beltsville has already survived a heart and kidney transplant, battled cancer and founded a nonprofit organization that helps support
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low-income women pursuing higher education. Ojewumi started Project ASCEND while attending the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2011 and has helped fund a summer camp for 100 local girls and scholarships for five women attending college. In February, she was honored by the Clinton Foundation, former president Bill Clinton’s nonprofit, and rec-
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Ola Ojewumi of Beltsville started the nonprofit Project ASCEND, which provides financial assistance to low-income women interested in higher education. Ojewumi has been recognized for her efforts with awards from the Clinton Foundation as well as the Women’s Information Network (shown at right).
ognized at the Clinton Global Initiative University event March 21-23 for her work in the community. “My destiny is to help people,” Ojewumi said. “My life is not here to be idle. I was not saved for no reason.” Ojewumi was 11 years old when she had a double organ transplant because of a heart condition. She said the experi-
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See HELP, Page A-8
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