9 minute read
Prince George's County
MD FORUM from Page 8
Eastern Shore and Ocean City, Segal said his plan would be simple.
The retired lecturer recommends people work four days a week instead of five, employees telecommute and free taxi service at the last stop at bus depots.
“We don’t believe in accommodating the car. We believe in shrinking the role of the car,” he said.
Baron said he supports a study of the Bay Bridge to assess whether a third span should be built or other options. He said fewer people have been on the roads due to the pandemic while working from home.
Baron, who released a climate plan March 8, said utilizing electric vehicles would help reduce vehicles dependent on gasoline and also improve the environment.
“I have nothing against cars and automobiles, as long as they are clean,” he said. “We are moving toward hybrid and electric vehicles.”
Gansler said work on the Bay Bridge would be a low priority in order to focus on mass transit.
“We don’t need to build another bridge to get more people in the Eastern Shore,” he said.
He said public-private-partnership (P3) projects such as the Purple Line light-rail project remain effective when private businesses manage the work under government regulations. The P3 model allows a lead contractor to work
5 Six of the Maryland Democratic candidates for governor participate in a candidate’s forum March 15 at Attaboy Barrel House in Frederick. From left to right: Jerome Segal, Doug Gansler, Ashwani Jain, John King, Jr., Laura Neuman and Jon Baron. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
5 Edward Burroughs III. (Photo courtesy Edward Burroughs III Facebook page)
William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
A third group of Prince George’s County Council candidates participate in a virtual forum on criminal justice reform.
The specific questions from Progressive Maryland’s Reentry Work Group dealt with policies to aid ex-offenders, or returning citizens coming home after serving time in jail or prison.
Four candidates, Edward Burroughs III, Samuel Elira, Sr., Stanford Fraser and Krystal Oriadha, participated in the discussion Friday, March 11 seeking seats to represent council districts 7, 8, 9 and at-large.
As of Friday, the state Board of Elections website shows 16 people have collectively filed to run in the three districts and the two at-large seats on the 11-member board.
Burroughs, who became sworn in on the council Feb. 14 after winning a special election to represent District 8, must run again in the June 28 primary because the term expires for the council member he replaced, Monique Anderson-Walker. So far, four other Democrats have filed paperwork to run for the seat.
Oriadha, of Seat Pleasant, remains the only registered Democrat running for the District 7 seat. Council member Rodney Streeter of Hillcrest hasn’t officially filed documentation and the deadline closes Tuesday, March 22.
Gary Falls, a registered Republican from Oxon Hill, represents the only registered Republican in the District 7 race.
Council member Sydney Harrison of Upper Marlboro represents the area of the jurisdiction in District 9 known as “South County.” None of the three candidates seeking election in District 9 attended the forum
PG FORUM Page 21
with other entities to assume the risk by handling the design, finance and construction until a project becomes completed.
“The problem in Maryland is the procurement process is so backward . . . so ineffective and so inefficient and it also lacks transparency,” Gansler said after the forum. “We need to revisit our procurement process so that minority-owned and women-owned businesses are at the table.”
Primary Election Pushed Back
Several hours before Tuesday’s forum, the Maryland Court of Appeals announced the primary election will be pushed back from June 28 to July 19. That means the deadline for candidates, previously set for Feb. 22 and postponed until Tuesday, March 22, has now been extended to April 15.
The decision occurred on the same day Anne Arundel County Circuit Court heard challenges from the legislature’s decision to revamp the state’s Congressional districts. The Maryland Court of Appeals will hear testimony against the state legislative map on March 23.
The appeals court decision didn’t sit well with former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, a Democratic candidate for governor who didn’t attend Tuesday’s forum.
Baker expressed some of his thoughts on his Twitter page including whether the state and local election boards could secure personnel for the primary election in the summer.
“This latest mess, which seems to happen on a regular basis here in Maryland, is a stark reminder that we need to reform the process by which our congressional and legislative district maps are chosen,” he said. “Because whichever side of the aisle you happen to be on, it's clear this isn't working for the people and does little but inspire confusion, resentment and apathy within our political system.”
As for the forum, Baker and three other candidates were not in attendance: state Comptroller Peter Franchot; author and former nonprofit executive Wes Moore; and former Democratic National Party chair Tom Perez. Perez stayed home to rest after he tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
Moore and his running mate, former Del. Aruna Miller of Montgomery County, released a transportation plan Monday that includes expansion of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, converting the state’s fleet into electric vehicles and supporting the RedLine light rail project in Baltimore.
WI @WJFjabariwill
TUSKEGEE from Page 1
pandemic, it’s been tougher for some bills which appear as “slam dunks” to receive approval, or even make it out of committee.
“It’s got to get done this year,” Patterson said with a smile.
He joined several members of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. at a public hearing Thursday, March 10 before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in Annapolis.
Several members donned red jackets – a symbol that highlights the airmen’s nickname of “Red Tails.” The airmen painted the tails of their planes red to help identify them.
Jerry “Hawk” Burton, president of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and an Air Force veteran, said Maryland symbolizes the home of several of the original airmen including Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. and Charles Herbert Flowers. Two high schools in Prince George’s County bear their names.
One of the most famous airmen, Brig. Gen. Charles E. McGee, died in January at 102 years old. Two years ago, the Bethesda resident held a book-signing at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.
“Over the last two years, [McGee] was our rock star. He was everywhere,” Burton said. “He made it easy for us to talk about Tuskegee Airmen.”
So far, lawmakers in eight states and the District of Columbia have passed laws to officially commemorate the Tuskegee Airmen.
The airmen totaled nearly 1,000 Black pilots who flew during World War II, endured racism at home and trained at a segregated airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama. Burton summarized how the Tuskegee program included not only pilots but also more than 15,000 cooks, security personnel and other support staff who “did all the things it took to man a military base.”
In 1948, President Harry Truman signed an executive order eliminating racial segregation in the armed forces.
Civil rights leaders pushed Truman to either support the move or to expect that Blacks would be encouraged to resist the draft. As for the Tuskegee Airmen, they remain credited with integrating the military with a resilience in battle that included their response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.
George Ownings III, secretary of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, said the Pearl Harbor invasion occurred the same day as McGee’s birthday when he turned 22 years old.
Owings also said McGee received the honorary promotion from colonel to general in 2020 after former President Donald Trump approved the measure following a vote in Congress. He reminded the Maryland Senate committee that McGee has testified in Annapolis on the measure.
“Until this year,” he said. “If for no other reason, in memory of Brig. Gen. Charles Edward McGee, this bill should pass.”
5 Maryland Sen. Obie Patterson (D-District 26) of Fort Washington talks about legislation to mark the fourth Thursday in March as “Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day” in Maryland. (Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)
WHY REMEMBER THE AIRMEN IN MARCH?
The members of the Tuskegee nonprofit organization summarized why the airmen are honored in March.
The U.S. War Department established the 99th Pursuit Squadron on March 22, 1941, which later became the Tuskegee Airmen. Nearly a year later on March 7, 1942, five Black pilots represented the first graduating class.
“March brings everything to full circle,” Edward Harbison, an Air Force veteran and lifetime member of the Tuskegee Airmen East Coast Chapter, said during an interview before Thursday’s hearing.
“They opened doors so others like me can serve this great nation. These great Americans need to be recognized for their unsung effects on the development of the United States of America,” Harbison said.
On March 24, a wreath laying ceremony will take place at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Later that day, a virtual fundraiser will be held featuring remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch and the Rev. Grainger Browning, pastor of Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington.
The national Tuskegee organization and its chapters use money raised toward scholarships and grants for college and high school students, especially those who pursue careers in aviation, aerospace and science technology.
The organization’s east coast chapter provides high school students in the D.C. area a three-level aviation program named after Tuskegee Airmen Herbert H. Jones, Jr. The three levels are set up this way:
Level 1: High school students ages 15 to 19 meet for five consecutive Saturdays at the College Park Airport to assess the possibility of a career in aviation.
Level 2: If interested in becoming a pilot, students who quality can spend eight to 10 weekends learning the position that includes completing a Federal Aviation Administration exam.
Level 3: After passing the FAA exam, students can receive 15 hours of flight instruction at Hyde Field/Washington Executive Airport in Clinton.
Frank Killebrew, an Air Force Veteran who taught aerospace science for 25 years at Oxon Hill High School, said aviation education can lead to various careers. For instance, he said a former aviation student currently works as an instructor teaching Air Force personnel in Japan.
“What the Tuskegee Airmen did paved the way for young people to do things like this,” said Killebrew, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen East Coast Chapter. “We need to put information about the Tuskegee Airmen in the student textbooks so they can read about it. It's an important part of history.” WI @WJFjabariwill
