CENTER STAGE Largo students perform at Kennedy Center. A-3
NEWS: Fort Washington chef wins Food Network cooking competition. A-6 Thursday, December 18, 2014
The Gazette SERVING PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
SPORTS: Douglass defensive tackle put in time to help lead Eagles to first state title. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
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School budget halts expansion n County art integration,
peer teacher review, academy increase limited BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Prince George’s County Public Schools will open a new Early Childhood Center and an alternative Saturday high school next year, but is freezing planned expansions of arts integration, peer teacher review and high school career academies to cope with an uncertain financial future. “Just to be clear, we’re not ending the programs, we’re not cutting the programs, but we’re
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Fabian Garcia, 7, holds up a snow globe as he shops Saturday with Hyattsville Police Officer Mark Filuta during a event in which area law enforcement personnel shop with local children at The Mall at Prince George’s in Hyattsville.
‘Operation Santa with a Badge’
Police help fill Hyattsville children’s holiday shopping lists BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
One hundred police cars, lights flashing and sirens wailing, converged on the Mall at Prince Georges in Hyattsville on Saturday. But the police weren’t there to stop a major crime — they were simply bringing a little holiday cheer to 100 community children. Hyattsville’s “Operation Santa with a Badge” provided police escort to children in need as they went on a shopping spree with officers, paid with $100 gift cards provided through donations from local retailers and civic organizations. “We have families in our community
that have a hard time making ends meet during the holiday season, and this is one way we can help them out,” said Hyattsville Police Sgt. Michael Rudinski, who works as a resource officer at Northwestern High School. The Hyattsville’s “Operation: Santa with a Badge” was started in 2003 by Rudinski with eight children. Since then, it has grown, and this year included 100 children, Rudinski said. Officers from other jurisdictions in the county, sheriff deputies, and officers from outside the county and the state all come to Hyattsville to participate in the event, Rudinski said.
“We rely on the local schools to provide the names of children from families who may have income needs during the holidays,” Rudinski said. The police drove out from Magruder Park in Hyattsville on Saturday morning in their police cruisers to pick up the children and bring them, with lights and sirens, to the mall, where each officer escorted a child on a shopping trip. Celia Penate, parent liaison at Hyattsville Elementary School, said the school sent 15 students this year. “The children feel very, very blessed,
See SANTA, Page A-10
Bowie church, county police talk Ferguson Law enforcement meets with congregation to discuss national incidents, local relationships n
BY
Uniformed police officers stood alongside New Vision Church congregation members Sunday singing songs about love and unity before taking the stage to answer questions about police brutality and discrimination. It marked the first time Bowie officers met with a local church to discuss the events of Ferguson, Mo., where a police officer shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old and was later released without charges, said Bowie Deputy Police Chief Dwyane Preston. Following a time of worship, a panel that included the chief and deputy chief of the
See FERGUSON, Page A-8
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ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Frustrated by increased public use of their private road, a Laurel condominium group wants the city to assume control and properly maintain Dorset Road. Dorset Road, which runs between Old Sandy Spring Road and Brooklyn Bridge Road, was built in the 1970s as a residential road, but residents of Brook Mill
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY/THE GAZETTE
Calvin Tyson, a member of the Prince George’s County Police Department and New Vision Church in Bowie, addresses the congregation at a Sunday forum on police brutality and the events in Ferguson.
ROLLING THROUGH Bladensburg seniors say bowling tournament competition brings community together. A-7
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Condominiums said during a Dec. 10 meeting with Laurel officials that the road should be public because it carries public traffic. “Eighty percent of traffic that goes on there goes to the school,” Sandor Drosick of Laurel, who owns a condo at Brook Mill, said during the meeting at the Laurel Municipal Center. Drosick was referring to Scotchtown Elementary School, located on Dorset Road. “Please take Dorset Road — we don’t want it,” said condo owner Dorothy Lawson,
See ROAD, Page A-10
Wal-Mart balance sought BY
NEWS
INDEX
Residents: Heavily used area should be paid with municipal funds n
Retail giant seeks support of expansions in Bowie, Oxon Hill
STAFF WRITER
See BUDGET, Page A-10
Condo association wants city to adopt private Laurel road
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EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY
just not expanding them further,” school system CEO Kevin Maxwell said prior to presenting his $1.84 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year to the school board and the public Dec 11. Maxwell’s budget is a 2.5 percent increase over last year’s $1.8 billion budget. It continues the expansion of language immersion, Montessori and fullday pre-kindergarten begun last year, and includes the creation of two international high schools for English language learners, a new Early Childhood Center and a north county Saturday school alternative program for approximately 300 students, Maxwell
Prince George’s may soon see a Wal-Mart expansion, but first the corporation needs to make an ally of smaller businesses, say county business leaders. Wal-Mart operates three stores in Prince George’s and is planning two more in Bowie and Oxon Hill — both of which have been opposed by some community groups. At a Dec. 10 presentation, Wal-Mart representatives discussed plans to expand their
current Clinton and Landover Hills stores to include full grocery components and reinvent the current Bowie location as a 186,000-square-foot flagship superstore. David Harrington, president of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, said the small business community is growing in the county, and that it is important they have access to the same kind of opportunities and contracts as larger corporations. “We will work with Wal-Mart to identify small businesses and help them seek out small businesses to help them provide goods and services,” he said. “Building an economy is about being inclusive, and so when
See WAL-MART, Page A-10