LIVING HISTORY Students learn Laurel’s past to tell their own stories. A-4
The Gazette
SPORTS: Two Fairmont Heights football players earn invitation to try out for national team. B-1
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, Aug. 7, 2014
25 cents
Out and about
More seats than students for county specialty programs
Riverdale takes part in event against crime BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Yamilet Vivar, 18, of Riverdale said she has been to other National Night Out celebration, but the event she attended Tuesday evening at the Riverdale Heights Volunteer Fire Department stands out from the rest. “Here it’s more interactive,” said Vi-
var, who will be a senior at Bladensburg High School and attended the event as a volunteer, to help out a friend who works at the fire department. “They had spirit.” Observed nationwide since 1984, National Night Out is an event that focuses on bringing communities together against crime, according to the website of the founding organiza-
tion, the National Association of Town Watch. The event is now marked by more than 16,000 communities. But unlike municipalities which sometimes have designated budgets for the event, the Riverdale celebration was funded exclusively by donations, said Cindy Daymont, treasurer of
Registration reopened to fill school vacancies
n
BY JAMIE
See NIGHT OUT, Page A-6
Specialty programs in Prince George’s County Public Schools have been expanded, but as of last week, some of those seats were empty. “There were more than enough parents who applied to specialty programs, but not all of those chose to enroll,” said school board chairman Segun Eubanks. Eubanks said parents can enter the lottery for multiple specialty schools, and some may have gotten their first and second choice schools. Others may have changed their minds and decided to go with their neighborhood schools. The school system offers several specialty schools, such as French language immersion, Montessori education, and now Spanish language immersion, as well as schools with
City’s incentive program helps entrepreneurs offset cost of renovation, signs n
Residents want to get rid of rat issues Rodents found looting through garbage in Bladensburg BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Concerned about rats he has seen roaming his Bladensburg neighborhood, Steve Weitz decided he had to do more than simply complain about the problem — he brought in visual evidence to a town forum. During the July 26 meeting held to
specialized programs for students identified as Talented and Gifted, or TAG, during second-grade testing. Entry into these programs is often competitive, and openings are filled via a lottery held every spring. Last year, there were 354 students on the wait list for TAG center schools, and 198 students applied to enter the John Hanson French Immersion program, which had approximately 75 seats available, according to school officials. Increasing school choice through expansion of specialty schools and the creation of Spanish immersion schools was a large part of school system CEO Kevin Maxwell’s agenda during his first year, and $21.7 million was directed towards program expansions in the 2014-15 budget. PGCPS spokesman Max Pugh said that as of July 30, when the application process was reopened, 20 kindergarten seats were available for two of the school system’s new Spanish
See PROGRAMS, Page A-6
Laurel’s Main Street gets new businesses
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Adriana Ochoa, 8, of Mount Rainier enjoys a ride Tuesday at the National Night Out in Hyattsville.
discuss community trash, among other issues, Weitz, 67, showed Mayor Walter James and several council members photographs of garbage bins overflowing with trash bags that spilled onto the streets. He also showed the officials pictures he had taken of rats rooting through his neighbor’s garden. Residents say the garbage situation out on the streets and the resulting rat problem started about a year ago, after the town reduced trash pickup from twice a week to once a week. But the rats and the trash are only
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Swinging the night away
n
INSIDE: 2014-15 School Guide
BY
part of the problem, say residents, who added they feel as though they have no voice in the decisions made by the town’s leadership. “We have ho meaningful input,” Weitz told the mayor and council during the town forum. “We feel like we’re being excluded from the whole process.” Mayor Walter James, speaking after the meeting, said the schedule change in the town’s trash pickup could be “a
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Karen Sabur, 61, of Laurel said she hasn’t done much shopping on Main Street, but she was excited to hear city officials are working on a plan to revitalize old buildings and bring more businesses to its historic downtown. “Most of the towns around here are just developments. They’re not really a town with a history,” said Sabur, a retired school social worker who was running errands on Main Street on July 30. “The Main Street is very
See RATS, Page A-6
important for the identity of a town. It’s a place where people can see other residents.” Soon, residents will have more businesses to patronize on the City of Laurel’s Main Street and its Route 1 corridor as officials ramp up an economic development initiative that gives business owners financial assistance to move into old buildings, renovate them and put up signs drawing customers to their shops. “Our Main Street has been quiet too long,” said Alicia Fields, who handles business services for the city. “Our objective is to be a thriving Main Street. A place where people want to walk and get a cup of coffee, grab a slice of pizza ... shop in some of the
See BUSINESS, Page A-6
Hyattsville paves the way for new parking spaces Route 1 growth spurs need for more spaces, officials say
n
BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Tracey Ham of Hyattsville said on Fridays it’s not uncommon for her to be a stalker at Hyattsville’s Shoppes at Arts District on Route 1. Finding a parking spot, she said, can sometimes be a 15-minute process
of three vacant buildings along Hamilton Street, paving the way for structured parking area. That was good news to Robert Thomas, manager of the upscale pet supply store Big Bad Woof in the Shoppes at Arts District shopping center. “All the shops here need more parking,” Thomas said. “This center’s growing and people want to come shop here, but they also
See PARKING, Page A-6
NEWS
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
and has sometimes discouraged her from shopping there. “I just circle around and around and stalk people until I find a spot,” Ham said. Hyattsville officials are looking to relieve the parking crunch for Ham and other patrons by adding approximately 200 additional parking spaces one block south on Hamilton Street, said Jim Chandler, assistant city administrator. The project, expected to take at least a year, began July 30 with the demolition
B-7 A-2 B-5 A-8 A-7 B-1
MUNICIPAL MILESTONE Cottage City reaches its 90th anniversary. A-3
Volume 17, No. 32, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
1934318
JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU/THE GAZETTE
The front of a vacant building on Hamilton Street is demolished.