January 2013 Hyattsville Life & Times

Included: The January 15, 2013 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section

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HyattsvilleJanuary 2013Hyattsville’s Community NewspaperVol. 10 No. 1

Life&Times

ART WORKS continued on page 12

DOUBLE GRAMMYNominations for two city residents. PAGE 3

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALKA Hyattsville Preservation Association event showed residents the basics of home-history sleuthing. PAGE 4

CITY CLERK JOINS STAFFWith Laura Reams, the city moves to � ll some longstanding high-level sta� vacancies PAGE 5

ACADEMY continued on page 10

by Rosanna Landis Weaver

A new public charter school will be opening for 6th and 7th graders this fall. � ough it is called the College Park Academy (CPA), its � rst home will be the former St. Mark’s School in Hy-a� sville.

� e public charter school was founded by the College Park City-University Partnership, an 18-year-old nonpro� t that brings together the university and the city in collaborative initiatives.

Initially, organizers had hoped to open the CPA in the old Col-lege Park Elementary School on Calvert Road. It had been vacant since 2007, when Friends Com-munity School moved from that property.

But that plan met with some re-sistance from neighbors, whose concerns included a shortage of parking, and it became clear it would have been di� cult to open in fall 2013 if using that building.

At that point, the CPA repre-sentatives approached St. Mark’s about leasing the Adelphi Road property for two years or more.

St. Mark’s School building had been largely empty since 2010, when declining enrollment

Charter school to open in Hya� sville

by Susie Currie

Hya� sville police have made an arrest in connection with a January 4 burglary that occurred while the homeowners were sleep-ing, and the suspect may be responsible for a

similar case two months earlier.On January 11, Wilbur Sibert was arrested

for the� a� er a television, stolen during the burglary in the 5500 block of 43rd Avenue, was found in his apartment. Police are search-ing for a second suspect in the case, accord-

ing to sources familiar with the investigation. � e next day saw a break in the case of a sim-

ilar home invasion, which happened in the 5300 block of 42nd Avenue on November 6.


A new art school is coming to Hya� sville. Art Works Studio School of Mount Rainier will be moving into the Route 1 build-ing in Hya� sville that for many years housed Marche Florists.

William Marche started the family business in 1908 in Washington, D.C. A� er he died in 1919, his widow, Augusta Marche, moved the business to their Hya� sville home. � e cur-rent retail space, built in 1951, re-placed a smaller shop on the site. It remained in the family for 50 years until another � orist bought it in 2001.

It’s changed hands at least once since then, but the build-ing hasn’t been used since the Marches le� . Art Works found-er Barbara Johnson hopes to change that.

Her plan is to complete reno-vations this year, in time for a holiday open house in Decem-ber 2013. In addition to its pri-mary role as classroom space, the building will provide gallery space, o� ces and other oppor-

Hya� sville police nab home invasion suspectNews comes as annual report shows overall crime down in 2012

CRIME continued on page 13

Art will bloom at former f lorist’s

JULIANA ALLENEight year old Ella Williams and her sister Charlotte (age 5) are big fans of Art Works Studio. The girls, both students at Hyattsville Elementary, have attended summer camps and sculpture classes at the Mount Rainier studio and were “elated” to learn of the planned move to Hyattsville.

Page 2 Hyattsville Life & Times | January 2013

A community newspaper chronicling the

life and times of Hyattsville

Mailing address: PO Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781

Hyattsville Life & Times is published monthly by Hyattsville Community Newspaper, Inc., a 501c(3) nonpro� t

corporation. Interested reporters should send their e-mail addresses to the editor to be reminded of deadlines and receive internal news. Articles and news submit-

ted may be edited. The deadline is the last week of the month for the following month’s issue. Letters to the editor and opinions are encouraged. For all e-mail

correspondence with HL&T: news, features, tips, advertising and business write to hyattsvillelifeandtimes@gmail.

com. To submit articles, letters to the edi-tor, etc., e-mail [email protected].

Executive Editor Susie Currie

[email protected]

Managing EditorRosanna Landis Weaver

[email protected]

Editorial InternScarlett Salem

ProductionAshley PerksAdvertising

[email protected]

Writers & ContributorsVictoria Hille, Bill Jenne,

Valerie Russell, Kimberly Schmidt, Fred Seitz, Hugh Turley

Board of Directors Joseph Gigliotti - President and

General Counsel Chris Currie - Vice President

Susie Currie - SecretaryPeggy Dee, Bart Lawrence,

Karen J. Riley, Valerie RussellRosanna Landis Weaver - Ex O� cio

Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. Mail to every address

in Hyattsville. Additional copies are dis-tributed to libraries, selected businesses, community centers and churches in the

city. Total circulation is 9,300.

HL&T is a member of the

FromTheEditor


� e simple question: “Where are you from?” can be viewed as banal cocktail party cha� er, an intrusive means to identify out-siders, or as a core question of the modern-day examined life.

I’ve thought about this ques-tion a great deal: taking a “lo-cal history” class in high school three decades ago, studying for my Master’s in American Stud-ies at University of Notre Dame, and raising my three interna-tionally adopted children. Shar-ing those thoughts seemed to be a good way to introduce myself as the newest member of the HL&T sta� .

Is where you are from the place where you grew up? I was born in Pennsylvania, halfway between Philly and Allentown near a road we called the “old 309.” Old and new are relative terms in the world of my heritage. I remem-ber being surprised as a child that the schism between “old Men-nonites” and “new Mennonites” (common terms in my world at the time) happened over 100 years before my birth. How could something over 100 years old be new?

I once read a statistic about Pennsylvania that claimed it was the state with the highest per-centage of residents who were born there and never moved away. Whether this was factu-ally accurate I do not know, but it rang true to me. When I moved to Washington, D.C., a� er at-

tending Goshen College in Indi-ana, I was only a three-hour drive away from where I was born, but some peers considered it moving far away.

In this nation of immigrants, is where you are “from” the coun-try of your genetic origin? � at is what people o� en seem to mean when they ask my chil-dren. It sometimes frustrates them when the answer, “Mary-land,” is dismissed, and it be-comes obvious that the question of origin is being asked on the basis of their physical appear-ance. Yet, I’ve asked the ques-tion myself in a genuinely well-meaning a� empt to � nd out whether someone’s country or city of origin is shared with one of my children. I can see how it could be o� ensive, though, if one has encountered anti-immigrant

‘Where are you from?’ resistance in the past. Almost every American’s ances-

tors came here from somewhere else, and by this de� nition, my family is from Germany. � ough my ancestors began emigrating over 300 years ago, they spoke a German dialect at home, church and school for the � rst 200 years they lived in North America. Even in my childhood, this dia-lect, by then known as Pennsyl-vania Dutch, was the language used to keep Christmas presents secret from children. � is per-sonal history inspires me to be patient with more recent immi-grants who by the glacial-assim-ilation standards of my family’s past are rapid adapters.

Sometimes I wonder if where you are from is the place you raise your children. Certainly our home in Hya� sville, where we moved from Mount Rainier in 2005, is the building that has the highest association of senti-mental memories for me, more

than any other place on earth. Here is the background to all the best photos, of Snowmageddon, of � rst days of school, of cotil-lion, of toddlers and teenagers.

Maybe where we are from is where we live right now. We help create where we are from, when we build community. Perhaps the roots we put out are more broad than deep these days, but they are roots nonetheless and their living strength is vital. Some of us have relatives that grew up here, others are recent transplants but (as noted in the article on page 4) have taken a deep interest in the history of their homes.

When we become part of Hy-a� sville’s present we become the caretakers of its past and the creators of its future. We are from Hya� sville, no ma� er where we may have lived before.

Rosanna Landis Weaver joined the HL&T as managing editor in December.

I recently received a copy of an ar-ticle you printed last year about Law-son’s pharmacy in Hya� sville. I really enjoyed reading the article about Mr. Sabatelli and the brief history of the store because it was I that opened that drugstore back in 1948. I operat-ed it successfully for almost 40 years before I retired and sold the business to Mr. Sabatelli.

Even though I am now 90 years old, I still work as a sta� pharmacist in Fred-ericksburg, Va. I’m sure that there are folks there in Hya� sville that not only remember me, but remember my fa-ther, Dr. Lawson, who operated Cot-tage City pharmacy that opened for business in 1926 and continued until he sold it and came to work for me in my Hya� sville store.

Because I spent so many years in Hya� sville, I feel close to the town and would like to receive a copy of your monthly publication. It is in-teresting to me to read about all the changes in the town that occur over the years. I can remember when Route 1 was still a two-lane dirt road and there was not a bridge over the railroad tracks at Rhode Island Avenue.

Yours truly,Alfred Lawson

Ed. Note: We are happy to add Mr. Lawson and other former residents of Hya� sville to our mailing list. Please send requests to Subscriptions, P.O. Box 132, Hya� sville, MD 20871.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

CATIE CURRIETangled Skein co-owner Lawrence Paulson at the Baltimore Avenue store. Paulson and Cheryl Hoffman will be closing the store in March after six years, bringing an end to the regular gatherings of knitters, spinners and crocheters that could often be found in the cozy shop. During the first days of the liquidation sale, which began on January 10, customers waited in line for hours with their purchases.

Hyattsville Life & Times | January 2013 Page 3

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Many of your neighbors will be watching the 55th Annual Gram-my Awards on February 10. But how many will be listening for their names?

Longtime Hyattsville residents Pete Reiniger and Stephen Wade have been nominated for proj-ects they completed for Smith-sonian Folkways Recordings, the nonprofit record label of the na-tional museum.

Woody at 100: The Woody Guth-rie Centennial Collection, a com-prehensive boxed set marking the singer’s 100th birthday, is up for Best Historical Album. Reini-ger, the label’s chief engineer, was nominated for his work on it.

Another Folkways project, the album Imaginaries, was nominat-ed for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album. Reiniger also worked on that one; if the group, Quetzal, wins the Grammy, so will each member of the produc-tion team.

“For the Queztal recording to be nominated is kind of fun,” he said, “because it’s rock — an un-usual genre for Folkways.”

Reiniger already has two of the coveted golden gramophones. In 1997, his work on the Anthology of American Folk Music helped earn it Best Historical Album; in 2009, he shared credit for Best Tejano Album, Borders Y Bailes, as its engineer.

For Stephen Wade, getting his first Grammy nomination capped a year of professional milestones. His book The Beauti-ful Music All Around Us, 18 years in the making, was published in September, the same week that his album Banjo Diary: Les-sons from Tradition was released. Wade both performed on the al-bum and wrote the accompany-ing 44-page text that made him a contender for Best Album Notes.

That news came soon after he got word that Bill Stepp, one of the musicians he’d written about in Beautiful Music, would be one of this year’s 27 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees. Stepp was being honored for his 1937 arrange-ment of “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” which was one of the pieces Wade had uncovered in his field research for the book.

Glad that Stepp was finally get-ting his due, if posthumously, Wade thought no more about the Grammys. Until he got an e-mail a couple weeks later.

“I had no idea” the album notes were in the running, he said. “I came downstairs with this look on my face. My wife, Michaelle, could tell something was up.”

The couple has lived in Hyatts-ville for over 20 years. Wade first came to the area to perform his one-man show, “Banjo Danc-ing,” at Arena Stage. Booked for a three-week run in January 1981, the show ran for 10 years.

“That was a long three weeks,” said Wade.

Reiniger first came to Wash-ington in 1973 to work for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a two-week event staged on the National Mall every July. In 1975, he became the technical director for the event, a posi-tion he held for various stretch-es until 1999.

He met his wife, Arlene, in the early 1980s, when both worked on the festival. Arlene continues to work as a program coordina-tor at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heri-tage, where she also manages the intern program. They moved to Hyattsville in 1988.

On February 2, Wade will be performing selections from the album and signing copies of his book at Busboys & Poets. The event is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. in the Zinn Room.

Don’t expect to get a glimpse of either man on the red carpet the following week, though. The live telecast shows the winners of only a handful of the 81 catego-ries. The rest are announced in a ceremony that starts hours earli-er in the same venue, the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Besides, said Reiniger, “being nominated is almost better than winning, because there are only five nominees in each category. To get peer recognition for your work is always pretty awesome.”

Double Grammy Two residents earn nominations

susie currieRecording engineer Pete Reiniger, flanked by his two Grammys, is up for a third for his work on “Woody at 100,” a Smithsonian Folkways Recording marking Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday.


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More than 50 Hyattsville resi-dents took time out of the busy holiday season on December 13 to attend “How to Conduct His-toric Research on Your Home,” co-sponsored by the Hyattsville Preservation Association (HPA) and the University of Maryland Historic Preservation Program. Though many came for the “how to” presentations, they also heard entertaining stories on every-thing from duckpin bowling to hydrophobia.

Each of 13 graduate students in Kirsten Crase’s Historical Re-search Methods course was as-signed in September to research a historic property in Hyattsville. They presented biographies of the homes, which dated from be-tween 1865 and 1928, complete with slide presentations. Many students shared contrasting pho-tos, such as the same intersection or the same building shot a cen-tury apart.

As the stories unfolded through-out the evening, attendees heard tips on how to conduct similar research. Most homeowners should start with historic deeds.

“Deed records give you names, which are a tremendous asset” for any other sort of research, noted Ethan Cohen, who re-searched 5006 42nd Street.

The Hyattsville Preservation Association web page, at www.preservehyattsville.org, has a sec-tion on property research under its resources tab that walks one through that process. Deeds can

be confusing though, since sever-al streets in Hyattsville have had multiple names. The last series of major renaming took place in the 1940s — Littlefield and Wine became Farragut and 42nd, for example — frustrating some re-turning World War II veterans.

The recorded tax value of a property over time, available at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, can provide insight on when properties were built or improved. For example, Stephen Neuhauser, who researched 5004 42nd Street, discovered that the reported value jumped from $250 in 1907 to $2050 in 1908, suggesting that the house was built sometime between the two assessments.

Another often-mentioned re-source: the Sanborn Fire Insur-ance maps. For decades, be-ginning in the late 1800s, the Sanborn Company created these maps to help estimate fire in-surance liabilities. An original color-coded map (copies of which can be found in the Mary-land Room at the university’s Hornbake Library) provides detailed information on home building materials (yellow for frame house, pink for brick).

Students also diligently re-viewed census records. Matthew Grooms, who researched 4107 Farragut Street, described census records as the “single most valu-able resource” in learning about past families that lived at the property. He noted that such re-cords allowed him to determine “the occupation of my property’s

Uncovering the secrets of old homesowners, the composition of the family, their levels of education, whether or not they owned prop-erty and their ages.”

Census records are only public through 1940, however, and are only available online via academic institutions and paid subscription services, such as Ancestry.com.

At the Hyattsville branch li-brary, the Maryland Room has not only census data, but also wills and estates, city telephone books, and birth, marriage and death certificates, among many other resources. If you have a Prince George’s County library card, you can also gain online access to an extensive database of newspapers, which were also cited as an important historical source.

In addition, the Chronicling of America website, run by the Li-brary of Congress, also has digi-tized, searchable versions of over 800 newspapers covering 1836 to 1922.

Some students shared enter-taining or quirky trivia they un-covered this way. Who knew, for example, that Joseph Costi-nett, whose family lived on 40th Place from 1919 to 1959, played a major role in the rejuvenation of duckpin bowling as a com-petitive sport? Or that in 1912, 13 Hyattsville residents sought treatment because they had drunk milk from a cow that sub-sequently died of rabies? “Never before has Hyattsville been so wrought up over a matter,” de-clared the Washington Herald.

One theme in the evening’s pre-

sentations was the interaction of Hyattsville with Washington, D.C., as it evolved from country retreat to suburb. The District as a source of employment oppor-tunities was dependent on trans-portation. For example, Kristen Fox found a 1919 advertise-ment for 4914 42nd Avenue that noted the home was “two blocks from electric cars.”

A different form of transporta-tion mapping proved useful to another student, who found an 1896 bicycle map of DC that included portions of Hyatts-ville. At that time, bicyclists

weren’t looking for bike paths through parks, but for maps that illustrated the degree of steepness and the quality of the roads. Given the bikes of the day, dirt roads of mud and ruts could easily strand a bicyclist.

“The evening piqued my inter-est,” said Hyattsville resident Kevin Oakley, attending his first HPA event. “I’m looking forward to doing some research on my own home.”

HPA is preparing for for the 2013 Historic Hyattsville Tour on Sun-day, May 19. Want your house to be on it? Contact 301.699.5440.

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If you apply for a permit to hold a yard sale to get rid of your holiday excess, or a per-mit to host a block party this summer, you will have the op-portunity to meet the City of Hyattsville’s newest staff mem-ber: City Clerk Laura Reams.

“We’re pleased we have iden-tified a city resident with the skills necessary to help the city move forward,” said May-or Marc Tartaro, who has said he prefers to fill staff vacan-cies with locals when possible. “The clerk is a key position, and Laura is a great addition to the team.”

Reams, who started Decem-ber 10, is excited about the job, and her enthusiasm for the town she has lived in for two years is contagious.

“I love it here. I’ve always loved the character of the town and the good sense of commu-nity,” she said.

Reams grew up in Silver Spring and attended Univer-sity of Maryland, but began to spend more time here when she began dating her now-hus-band, Dustin Franco. Franco grew up here, and his parents still live on Longfellow Street. He and Reams live nearby with their two children, both under age 4.

Before taking the job, which had been open since April, she worked in Rockville at Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ where she worked her way up from office manager to busi-ness analyst. When she heard about the city clerk position in Hyattsville she thought it sounded like “a great opportu-nity” and one that matched her background in organizational

and project management.The city clerk’s job, after all,

is very much about the impor-tance of details. Reams serves as the keeper of the city re-cords and administrator of city contracts, as well as working to run the daily operations of the city efficiently and accurately. Another key responsibility will be managing the upcom-ing city election in May, which

she will do in coordination with the five-member election board.

Reams says what she likes best about the job so far is the sense of teamwork she has found at City Hall: “Everyone is gracious and welcoming.” She concedes that not spend-ing hours of her life on I-495 and I-270 is also a plus.

One thing she appreciates

Local resident joins city sta� as clerkabout life in Hyattsville is “the high level of engagement. It makes you want to get more involved and see what you can do to support the community.”

For her part, Reams is ac-tive on the HNMoms listserv, which she describes as another benefit of living here, as well as the Hyatt Park Community Garden. Soon after she moved to town, she saw mention of the garden on another local listserv and knew it was some-thing she wanted to be part of.

She recalls walking into the information session, picking up an application and check-ing several boxes in the “How do you want to be involved?”

category. She has been plot manager of the Hamilton Street garden ever since, keep-ing track of the 30 plots as well as the waiting list for them. It’s a big effort, she says, but also a wonderful way to get to know many people in town.

“We put a lot of effort into maintaining standards,” she notes. “We want the neighbors to look out their windows and say, ‘That is something nice to look at.’”

This year she grew toma-toes, basil, parsley and peas in her patch in the garden. But the sense of community that grows there is without a doubt her favorite crop.

COURTESY OF THE CITY OF HYATTSVILLENew Hyattsville City Clerk Laura Reams at her desk.


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by Susie Currie

Two area schools started 2013 with major donations. Hyatts-ville Elementary School’s Rainy Day Games campaign, set up in December as a Wish List on Am-azon.com, brought in more than 100 new games in its first month. Principal Julia Burton worked with the staff to identify items that could be brought out on in-door-recess days, when inclem-ent weather keeps the more than 500 HES students inside. PTA President Bart Lawrence reports that many of the games are in cir-culation already, adding that the “heartening show of community support ... will benefit hundreds of students for years to come.” To contribute, see the list at http://amzn.to/WSvxyG.

On January 3, when a parent at St. Jerome Academy learned that the new owners of the for-mer Pope John Paul II Cultural Center were offering much of its

permanent collection to the first groups who could dismantle and move it, parents and staff sprang into action. Two days later, 25 volunteers met at the center with ladders, packing material, and all manner of tools. After nine hours of toil and not a little ingenuity, several vans, SUVs and trucks full of the museum’s treasures arrived at the school. Among the items now awaiting installation at St. Jerome’s: a 50-foot-long time-line of metal and glass; backlit ceiling panels depicting planets and stars; and many larger-than-life reproductions of famous art, including Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes.

The center, located near the Catholic University of America, was a museum, performance and events facility dedicated to the legacy of the late pope. Last year, it was purchased by the Knights of Columbus, who plan to reno-vate it as the Blessed John Paul the Great Shrine.

Wishes granted for local schools

chris currieReaching for the stars: Arthur Sandel helps remove part of the perma-nent exhibit at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. The center donated most of its collection to Saint Jerome Academy, and 25 volunteers came to help dismantle and move it.


Surf’s Up!Parent and Child Dance Party

Saturday, February 23, 2013, 5 - 7 PMCity Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street

Catch a wave! Kid-friendly music and refreshmentsTickets: $5.00 per guestChildren must be accompanied by an adult throughout the eveningReservations required - 301/985/5021 or www.hyattsville.com/surfsup

Dear Miss Floribunda,

I am thinking about ge� ing a head start on my garden by planting indoors and know that soon seeds will be appearing in super-markets and grocery stores. I am curious about what I’ve heard termed “heirloom” seeds. What does this mean other than they come � om obsolete varieties that somehow got passed down? Is there any reason other than nostalgia for planting them? I would as-sume the newer seeds would be improved.

Not Sentimental on Nicholson Street

Dear Not Sentimental,

The new seeds are hybrids and some are indeed improved in certain ways. Watermelons have been developed with flat bottoms that stack better on grocery shelves. Cucumbers have thicker skins that help them travel long distances with less damage. This doesn’t matter much in the home gar-den, but we all like the newer varieties of pumpkins that are less stringy, car-rots without warts and tomatoes that are enormous or develop early. Not to mention flowers that are bigger than

their predecessors or come in new col-ors or petal combinations.

On the other hand, old-fashioned sweet peas have a much headier fragrance than new varieties and old varieties of toma-toes have more � avor. � e nasturtiums grown by Victorians reportedly were phosphorescent and glowed in the dark. It’s true that some hybrids are more re-sistant to disease, but in most cases it’s the old varieties that have successfully adapted over time to their climate and soil. � ey have passed on through seeds the characteristics that have ensured their survival. It would really be more accurate to term many of these varieties classic rather than obsolete.

� is brings us to the main botanical di� erence between “modern” and “heir-loom” seeds. Modern hybrids result from cross-breeding di� erent varieties. When a hybrid plant sets seeds, these will either be sterile or produce plants unlike the par-ent. So far, a� empts to develop hybrids that reproduce true to type have met with li� le success.

Heirlooms, on the other hand, are open-pollinated and always produce seeds true to type. As a result, “sentimental” types have given to friends and family a wide range of seeds that have successfully per-

petuated the old varieties — and it is they who have a� ectionately termed these fam-ily treasures “heirlooms.”

If this doesn’t move you, my practical Cousin Parsimony points out that you can collect their seeds and grow the same plants year a� er year at no further expense.

You have a golden opportunity to sam-ple the best of both hybrid and heirloom seeds on Saturday, February 9, when the Hyattsville Horticultural Society holds

its fourth annual Hart Seed Sale. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hyattsville Mu-nicipal Building (4310 Gallatin Street), you can browse a selection of seeds — handpicked for our climate — from the venerable Hart Seed Company, the old-est family-owned business of its kind in the country. You’ll find seeds no longer available to the average home gardener as well as cutting-edge new varieties; none are genetically modified.

In addition to the seed displays, informa-tion tables and pamphlets, there will be members of the Hya� sville Horticultural Society and the Community Garden on hand to answer questions. Other tables will o� er gardening books, catalogs and magazines for sale as well as interesting pots and gardening implements. And members of HHS are as adept at the cu-linary arts as they are at the horticultural. For a nominal price you can sample hot soups and baked goods. Children are wel-come.

Should you wish to help plan this event, please come to the next meeting of the Hy-a� sville Horticultural Society on Saturday, January 19, at 10 a.m. at the Municipal Building. In the meantime, all questions may be directed to � [email protected].

MissFloribunda

Both hybrid and heirloom seeds will be available at the fourth annual Hart Seed Sale on February 9.

Hyattsville Reporterthe

No. 256 • January 15, 2013www.hyattsville.org • 301-985-5000

Page HR1 Hyattsville Life & Times | January 2013 Hyattsville Life & Times | January 2013 Page HR2

IN OTHER NEWS...

JANUARY - FEBRUARY

CALENDAR

Friday, January 18Senior Fitness Friday: Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 1:00 PMMagruder Park Recreation Center3911 Hamilton Street

Monday, January 21HOLIDAY - Martin Luther King Jr. DayAdministrative O� ces closed. No Yard Waste collection, City-wide

Tuesday, January 22Council Meeting, 8:00 PM

Wednesday, January 23A.G.E.S. Workshop: New Year, New Youth!, 10:00 AM

Friday, January 25Senior Fitness Friday: Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 1:00 PMMagruder Park Recreation Center3911 Hamilton Street

Friday, February 1Senior Fitness Friday: Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 1:00 PMMagruder Park Recreation Center3911 Hamilton Street

Friday, February 1Children’s BINGO, 7:00 PMMagruder Park Recreation Center3911 Hamilton Street

Monday, February 4Council Meeting, 8:00 PM

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the City Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street.

NEW YEAR, NEW YOUTH! A.G.E.S. MEETS JANUARY 23In 2013, the Aging Gracefully Educational Series moves to Wednesday mornings at 10 AM. Our January session topic is New Year, New Youth! Kick o� 2013 with an overview of this year’s calendar and a discussion of health and wellness is-sues for seasoned adults. � e workshop is free and open to the public. All A.G.E.S. workshops take place at the City Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street, in the First Floor Multi-Purpose Room.

FAMILY BINGO NIGHT RETURNSJoin us at the Magruder Park Recre-ation Center on Friday, February 1, for Children’s Bingo. Kids ages 10 and under are welcome to play. $3 per player. Refreshments and prizes in-cluded! � e games begin at 7:00 PM.

SNOW ORDINANCECity Council recently made chang-es to the City’s snow shoveling ordinance. In the event of a heavy snowfall, the City may extend the time allowed for clearing sidewalks. Look for details in the next edition of the Reporter.

HYATTSVILLE AGING IN PLACE OFFERS TRAINING JANUARY 26 A comprehensive training for Hyattsville Aging in Place (HAP) volunteers is scheduled for Saturday, January 26 from 9 AM to 12 NOON in the City Municipal Building.HAP is a nonpro� t organization committed to helping older

Hyattsville residents stay in their homes and remain active in the community.HAP volunteers assist older neighbors with their shopping

and errands, light housekeeping chores, and getting to medical appointments. Volunteers also make daily reassurance calls.� e January 26th workshop is a continuation of the orienta-

tion for would-be HAP volunteers held in November. Focus of January 26th workshop is the nuts-and-bolts of being a HAP volunteer and will include the information, hands-on experi-ence, and written materials that will ready volunteers to re-spond to requests.Questions? Please contact Sally Middlebrooks at 301-927-

5432 or [email protected].

LEAF COLLECTION SEASON OVERPlease note that leaf vacuuming season officially ended in January. Residents served by the Department of Public Works may bag their leaves and place them out for collec-tion with any regular Monday Yard Waste collection.

TRASH SCHEDULE CHANGES – WINTER 2013

For households served by the Department of Public Works, there is no Yard Waste collection on holiday weeks. Two changes are scheduled this Winter.

• No yard waste will be collected on Monday, January 21. � e City is closed in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.• No yard waste will be collected on Monday, Febru-

ary 18. � e City is closed in observance of Presidents Day.

Questions? Contact the Department of Public Works at 301/985-5032.

AGELESS GRACE EXERCISE PROGRAM COMES TO MAGRUDER PARK

Announcing Senior Fitness Fridays! Ageless Grace is a � tness and wellness program that consists of 21 simple exercises de-signed to improve healthy longevity. � e exercises are de-signed to be performed in a seated chair and almost anyone can do them, regardless of most physical conditions. Class meets Fridays, January 11 through March 22 at the Magruder Park Recreation Building, 3911 Hamilton Street. � e cost is only $2.00 per session!Please note that we had initially announced the time as 9:00

to 10:00 AM. We are now shi� ing the class to the a� ernoon, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM. As of press time, the class was almost � lled. Please inquire

about available spaces by contacting Emily Stowers, Senior Services Coordinator at 301/985-5058 or [email protected]

MISSED MONDAY’S MEETING? CATCH THE REBROADCAST� e City’s cable station is now rebroadcasting City Council Meetings at a variety of times. Tune in on Monday at 10 AM; Tuesdays and � ursdays at 6 AM, 3 PM, and 10 PM; Wednes-days and Fridays at 7 AM and 9 PM; or Saturdays and Sundays

Surf ’s up!� e annual Parent & Child Dance party is scheduled for Saturday, February 23 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the City Municipal Building. � is year’s theme is Surf ’s Up! Hula skirts and Hawaiian shirts encouraged. Princess dresses are always ap-propriate attire at the Parent & Child Dance, too! � e event includes kid-friendly music and refreshments, plus a photo booth to snap

a picture of you and your little one.$5 admission per person. Registration is open now at hyattsville.org/surfsup or by

calling 301/985-5021.

Need to go somewhere? If you are a senior or an adult with a disability, call the Hyattsville Call-A-

Bus!� e Call-A-Bus operates Mondays, Wednesdays, � ursdays, and Fridays

by appointment only. Transportation is available throughout the greater Hy-attsville area, including Greenbelt, for trips to the grocery store, medical ap-pointments, pharmacies, area senior centers, and more.Our earliest pick-up is 9:00 AM. � e day’s service typically ends around

3:00 PM. Appointments must be made by 5:00 PM the business day prior to the trip – but feel free to plan ahead. We’ll take reservations weeks in advance!Rides are just $2/each way.� eresa Wilson is the City’s Call-A-Bus driver. � eresa has been with the

City for three years. She’s energetic, upbeat, and as a grandmother herself, has a lot in common with her passengers. “� is job is about more than driving from Point A to Point B. It is about connecting with our seniors and residents with disabilities,” said Colleen Aistis, the City’s Community Services Manager. “� eresa’s professionalism and the level of service she delivers far exceed the role of driver. She’s truly a member of our community and dedicated to helping residents live fully engaged lives.” For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call India Kea at

301/985-5020. Other senior-related questions? Call Emily Stowers, Senior Services Coor-

dinator, at 301/985-5058 or email her at [email protected].

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Call-A-Bus service

working on the 2013 souvenir eggs.

VETERAN SERVICESLooking for counseling, assistance with veterans’ bene� ts, or other information? � e Prince George’s County Vet Center services Coun-ty residents who have served their country. Services are provided at no charge to the veteran. For more information, visit www.vetcenter.va.gov, or call the Prince George’s County Vet Center, located at 7905 Malcolm Rd., Suite 101, Clinton, MD 21735, at 301/856-7173.

SENIOR SERVICESFamilies, caregivers and seniors: Do you have any age-related ques-tions or concerns? Please call Hyattsville’s Senior Services Coordina-tor, Emily Stowers at 301/985-5058, or email [email protected].

NIXLE� e City is now using Nixle to send public safety alerts and informa-tion via both email and text message. � is system replaces the Safe-City website previously in use. Many of our neighboring jurisdic-tions also use Nixle to send out information. Please note that Nixle won’t report on every incident – typically alerts are sent when the HCPD needs to alert the public to a potentially dangerous situation, or when we are asking for your help solving a crime. In other cases, Nixle messages relate to road closures, power outages, etc.If you have a nixle.com account, there is no need to create a new

one. Simply log in and add the City of Hyattsville to your wire. New to Nixle? Register at www.nixle.com or enroll using the widget on-line at http://www.hyattsville.org/stayinformed.

FIND US ON FACEBOOKAre you on Facebook? You can now keep up with City events and happenings at www.facebook.com/cityo� yattsville. When you see Vainglorious, the silver metal bird sculpture at Centennial Park, you’ll know you’re in the right place. He is kind enough to serve as the City’s wall photo.

Almost 80 of your Hyattsville neigh-bors are already preparing to keep their homes warm and their energy bills low this winter through the Small Town Energy Program (STEP). Let STEP do the same for your home!

STEP covers $300 of the $400 cost of your home energy evaluation report. If you decide to make any of the report’s recommended improvements, STEP then helps you get up to 60% of the costs back through rebates. STEP Energy Coach Suzanne Parmet helps you every step of the way, making the whole process easy.

To learn more about STEP or to attend a STEP house party at the home of a Hyattsville neighbor, contact Suzanne at [email protected], call 240-695-3991, or visit the STEP web site at http://www.smalltownenergy.org.

Small Town Energy Program Working in Hyattsville

at 12 NOON. We will broadcast the most recent Council Meeting. � e City’s channel is 71 on Comcast and 12 on Verizon. Questions? Com-ments? Please talk to Jonathan Alexander, the City’s cable coordinator, at [email protected] or 301/985-5028.

CHRISTMAS TREE COLLECTIONRemember that Christmas trees are collected as Yard Waste by the Department of Public Works during any Monday pick-up. There is no pick-up on Monday, December 31 or Monday, January 21. Sim-ply de-trim your tree and place it curbside. No bag or trimming is required. Trees are processed by Prince George’s County and re-used

as mulch.

THINKING SPRINGThe 127th City of Hyattsville Anniversary

Parade will take place on Saturday, April 13. It’s not too soon to think about march-ing! We welcome community groups of all types, from neighborhood watches to school clubs and beyond. A little bit of

creativity and some decent walking shoes are all that is required! Watch for more in-

formation later this month, or con-tact Cheri Everhart at 301/985-5021 or [email protected].

WARD BOUNDARIES UPDATED� e next City-wide election takes place on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. Do you know your Ward? Check www.hyattsville.org/map or contract City Clerk Laura Reams at 301/985-5009. A Special Edition of the Hyattsville Reporter mails to homes next month with more details.

MORE SAVE THE DATES� e Great Magruder Egg Hunt and Pancake Breakfast returns on Sat-urday, March 23. Uncle Pete will be back to entertain the crowds, and the high school art programs at Northwestern and DeMatha are already


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by Fred Seitz

In November and December, several Hya� sville residents no-ticed the increased presence and occasional demise of some of Hya� sville’s cutest and cleverest burglars, raccoons.

� e popular view of these o� en pudgy (8- to 30-pound) mam-mals as burglars comes from their distinctive black “mask” and their amazing skill at opening

NatureNearbyMasked bandits su� er lost territory

trash cans and other receptacles to consume the contents. � eir “burglar” image is reinforced by raccoons typically acting alone and at night.

Early English and Spanish colo-nists in North America were very familiar with our local felon. In-deed, the word “raccoon” is de-rived from Virginia Native Amer-icans’ name for the animal, which translates as “one who rubs and scrubs with his hands.” � e idea that raccoons “wash their food” is actually a misconception. Rac-coons feed near streams because cray� sh and amphibians are among their favorite foods, and rub their hands together because water enhances their already acute sense of touch, useful in hunting.

While waterside dining is a pop-ular view of the raccoon, these an-imals are among the most omniv-orous of all of our local wildlife.

� eir trashcan feeding antics are well known, as are their raids on bird feeders and bird nests. � ey are also occasional predators, tak-ing young squirrels, outdoor cats and other small mammals.

Residing in hollows of oaks and burrows le� by other animals and o� en sleeping in the crotch-es of trees, raccoons are comfort-able in urban environments (and o� en fa� ened from our trash).

Seeing raccoons in Hya� sville is not unusual. But seeing them during the day or a� er they’ve died is another ma� er, so I looked into it further.

While Prince George’s County Animal Management Division – or “Animal Control,” as most people still call it – has removed the carcasses, they do not test for disease unless the animals have had known contact with humans. � e sta� there advised me that they do not have any statistics on the deaths of these animals.

Public-health departments, which primarily focus on human health, o� en cite raccoons as a major rabies carrier. � ey also carry diseases that, while less fa-miliar, rarely infect humans but are more dangerous to racoons. Distemper is a frequent cause of death for raccoons and in some urban areas they have spread roundworm through their scat.

� e College Park Animal Con-trol sta� suggested that the ani-mals were likely being displaced from their wooded habitats due to extensive development along Route 1 and elsewhere in Hy-a� sville. Pushed out of formerly wooded areas, the animals may have been forced into parts of our city where there is greater

competition for food. Another theory is that, due to

the unusually warm weather last year, some raccoon kits (babies) may have been born at times oth-er than spring. � ese o� -season young may be having di� culty � nding food, and possibly even dying from starvation. � is food shortage may also explain why people are seeing the animals in daytime rather than evenings.

Still, raccoons aren’t going away anytime soon. � eir range and population have increased in North America, and around the world. � eir high cuteness quotient has led to introduction of raccoons in Japan and Ger-many. Since their introductions in those locations, they have gnawed on Japanese temples, in-fested German urban areas and have a� ained nuisance status amongst former human fans.

Raccoon sightings have been on the rise in some parts of Hyattsville recently.


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

, written by Coretta King's only sister Edythe Scott

Sat, Feb 2, 2013 / 5:00 PM Busboys @ Hyattsville / Free

YOUR New Local Bookstore

BUSBOYS & POETS BOOKSpresents

Stephen Wadeauthor and Grammy nominee

discusses and plays selections from his new book

January 17

The county’s G.E.A.R. (Girls Excited About Recreation) program hosts a variety of girls-only events for ages 10 to 17. Ful-fill your New Year’s Resolution of getting into shape with a Fitness Power Hour, an intense workout designed for girls. Free with M-NCPPC Youth ID. 5 to 6 p.m. Prince George’s Plaza Community Cen-ter, 6600 Adelphi Road. 301.864.1611.

January 18

County schools are closed for students today, and the Brentwood Arts Exchange is hosting a Creative Kids Day for ages 6 to 12. (Future dates are February 15 and 18.) Hands-on arts activities explore a dif-ferent theme each day. $20. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration required; SMARTlink# 1023515. Brentwood Arts Exchange, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood. 301.277.2863. To register, visit arts.pg-parks.com.

January 19

Join Mad Science for an interactive all-ages program that will touch on some of the science basics the Wright Brothers had to know before they could hope to achieve liftoff. All ages welcome. $5 fee includes museum admission. Showtimes are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. College Park Aviation Mu-

seum, 1985 Cpl. Frank Scott Drive, Col-lege Park. 301.864.6029.

Nothing beats cozying up to a good book in the wintertime — except, perhaps, discussing it once you’ve finished. This month’s library book club selection: Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife, a book about a young doctor who uses her grandfather’s copy of The Jungle Book to unravel the cir-cumstances surrounding his death. Free. 3 p.m. Hyattsville Branch Library, 6530 Adelphi Rd. 301.985.4690.

Start the New Year on a positive note with Created to Worship: A Praise and Wor-ship Extravaganza, an evening of uplift-ing music. Free. 5 p.m. Metropolitan Sev-enth-day Adventist Church, 6307 Riggs Rd. 240.528.8040.

Young choreographers from the Wash-ington metropolitan area present original works that open a window onto the future of dance at the 30th Annual Choreog-raphers’ Showcase. $25. Showtimes at 3 and 8 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park. 301.405.2787.

January 21

Weather permitting, the Mount Rainier Bike Coop will hold a Northwest Branch trail cleanup this morning along a section

of trail near Rhode Island Avenue. After meeting at the Melrose Skate Park parking lot (across from Shortcake Bakery), vol-unteers will split up into teams to tidy the trail and the green space around it. 10 a.m. to noon, beginning at the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and Charles Armentrout Drive. Contact [email protected].

January 25

This evening’s Tu B’Shevat Seder is a family potluck dairy dinner to celebrate the Jewish New Year of the trees in Israel. There will be songs, humor and the sym-bolic tasting of the first fruits of Israel.

Free. 6 p.m. Mishkan Torah Synagogue, 10 Ridge Rd., Greenbelt. 301.474.4223.

January 26

Soul In Motion African Dancers and Drummers, founded in 1984 by a group of Howard University fine-arts grads, returns to the Publick Playhouse for a fast-paced evening of music and movement. $10, with discounts for stu-dents and seniors. 8 p.m. Publick Play-house, 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly. 301.277.1710.

calendar continued on page 10

courtesy of peking acrobatsThe Peking Acrobats will appear at the Publick Playhouse on February 5.


Senior Fitness FridaysAgeless Grace Exercise ClassAgeless Grace is a fitness and wellness program that consists of 21 simple exercises designed to improve healthy longevity. The exercises are designed to be performed in a seated chair and almost anyone can do them, regardless of most physical conditions.

Fridays, noon to 1:00 p.m. Jan. 11 - March 22Magruder Park Recreation Building3911 Hamilton Street, HyattsvilleOnly $2 per session! Please register by January 7, 2013, by contacting Emily Stowers, Senior Services Coordinator at 301/985-5058 or [email protected]

Registration opens for Spring & Summer Camps on Tuesday, January 22 for City residentsGeneral registration begins February 11SPRING BREAK CAMP: April 1 - 5, $125/weekCamp hours are 9 AM to 5 PMBefore & After Care available

SUMMER CAMPSession I: June 17 through June 28Session II: July 1 through July 12Session III: July 15 through July 26 Session IV: July 29 through Aug 8 Session V: Aug 12 through Aug 16*

$210/Sessions I through IV$105/Session VCamp hours are 9 AM to 5 PMBefore & After Care available

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For more information or to register, please visit www.hyattsville.org/camps

February 2

Maybe you have some thank-you cards to mail now that the holidays are over, or maybe you just want to show your gratitude to someone. Expression of Thanks, a program for ages 10 to 17, can help. Hosted by Xtreme Teens/Preteens, it’s free with a M-NCPPC Youth ID card. 7 to 10 p.m. Prince George’s Plaza Com-munity Center, 6600 Adelphi Rd. 301.864.1611.

Spend an evening with local Grammy nominee Stephen Wade at this show-case of his two most recent works: The Beautiful Music All Around Us, a book 18 years in the making, and the album Banjo Diary: Lessons from Tra-dition. Free. 5 to 7 p.m. Zinn Room, Busboys & Poets, 5331 Baltimore Av-enue. 301.779.2787.

February 5

Kick off Black History Month by attending a lecture on the Effects of African-Americans on the Civil War. Hari Jones, assistant director of the African-American

Civil War Memorial and Muse-um, will discuss the community’s extensive efforts to end slavery. Ages 6 to 13. Free. 4 p.m. Berwyn Heights Community Center, 6200 Pontiac Street, Berwyn Heights. 301.345.2808.

As part of its 27th North American tour, the Peking Acrobats return to the Publick Playhouse with their signature blend of pageantry, jug-gling, tightropes, and, yes, acrobatics. $15, with discounts for students and seniors. 7 p.m. Publick Playhouse, 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly. 301.277.1710.

February 9

Gardeners: Do you know a hybrid from an heirloom? Find out at the Hyattsville Horticultural Society’s 4th Annual Hart Seed Sale, featur-ing non-GMO seeds in cutting-edge varieties as well as those with a long lineage. Members of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society and the Com-munity Garden will be on hand to answer gardening questions. Free ad-mission. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hyattsville Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. [email protected] or 301.277.7129.

Ongoing

On Fridays, through March 22, seniors can participate in Ageless Grace, a fit-ness and wellness program that con-sists of 21 simple exercises designed to improve healthy longevity. The exer-cises are designed to be performed in a seated chair and almost anyone can do them, regardless of most physical conditions. $2 per session. 1 to 2 p.m. Magruder Park Recreation Building, 3911 Hamilton Street. 301.985.5058 or [email protected].

A group bike ride starts every Sunday at 9 a.m. at Arrow Bicycles, 5108 Balti-more Avenue. This is a 32-mile, moder-ately paced ride that emphasizes group riding techniques. New group riders welcome. The route can be found by searching ‘arrow hyattsville’ at mapmyride.com. 301.531.9250.

Community Calendar is compiled by Susie Currie and Scarlett Salem. It’s a select listing of events happening in and around Hyattsville from the 15th of the issue month to the 15th of the following month. To submit an item for consider-ation, please e-mail [email protected] or mail to P.O. Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781. Deadline for February sub-missions is January 27.

forced a merger with St. Camillus School, three miles away in Silver Spring. Renamed St. Francis Inter-national School, it operates largely out of the Silver Spring Campus, with St. Mark’s being used for sum-mer programs and some sports practices and games.

Principal Tobias Harkleroad says that St. Francis has given its blessing to a temporary leasing of the space. By the time it outgrows its current campus and needs the Adelphi Road building for grades 5 to 8, CPA is expected to have found a more permanent home in College Park.

The school is intended to have a heavy online com-ponent, and a strong connection to the University of Maryland campus. The school will open in fall 2013 with 6th and 7th grades of up to 150 students each, and an additional grade will be added each year through high school.

In later grades, CPA students will be able to earn up to 25 University of Maryland credits for college courses before they graduate from high school. CPA and University of Maryland intend to continue to col-laborate over time.

A charter school, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a public school that is governed by its own board. Such schools receive money from the school districts in which they operate, in this case the Prince George’s County Board of Education, generally based on the number of students enrolled. Connections Education, a for-profit Educational Management Organization (EMO), owned by textbook company Pearson, will provide the web platform, initial curriculum and on-line courses.

Additional information about the school, which will be open to all Prince George’s County students, can be found at CollegeParkAcademy.com. The deadline for applications is January 31, and lottery drawing will be held February 6 if applications outnumber spaces.

ACADEMY continued from page 1

COMMUNITY CALENDARCALENDAR continued from page 9

1:00 to 2:00 p.m.


Hugh’sNews

DYLAN HANNA

LISTING SPECIALIST

[email protected]

THINKING OF SELLING?CALL TODAY!

YOUR HYATTSVILLE NEIGHBOR

2302 Chapman Rd - SOLD5702 38th Ave - SOLD4909 42nd Ave - SOLD

4015 Quintana St - SOLD4008 Hamilton St - SOLD

4815 Fox St - SOLD4530 32nd St - SOLD

3902 Madison St - SOLD6003 39th Pl - SOLD

3814 Nicholson St - SOLD

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6901 Calverton Dr - CONTRACT

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by Hugh Turley

In February 2007, before the economic collapse, I wrote about Hya� sville’s connection to the popular fairy tale � e Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Wri� en in 1900, L. Frank Baum’s story can be seen as a monetary al-legory about a march on Wash-ington in 1894 led by Ohio busi-nessman Jacob Coxey.

� e scarecrow (the farmer), the tin man (the industrial worker), and the lion (popu-list politician William Jennings Bryan) journeyed to the Emer-ald City (Washington). Among other things, the protesters wanted Congress to take the power to create money through credit away from private bankers and return it to the government, as � omas Je� erson and other founding fathers intended.

When police drove the group from Washington – reportedly for stepping on the grass at the U.S. Capitol – they � ed to Hya� s-ville, taking refuge at St. Jerome Church before heading home.

A second, larger march oc-curred in 1914. Five years later, the nation’s � rst and only state-owned bank was established: � e Bank of North Dakota. it was created by the state legisla-

ture in 1919 to ensure that mon-ey generated from loan interest stayed on Main Street instead of going to Wall Street.

For over 90 years the bank has served the people of North Da-kota, and the model seems to be working. In 2010, when other banks needed government bail-outs, the BND reported its best year ever, with a 19 percent re-turn on investment.

Perhaps it’s time to try that model here. A Bank of Hya� s-ville would be run by the City of Hya� sville and own the city’s assets. � e engine driving the bank would be tax revenues and fees collected by the city and de-posited into the bank.

� e City of Hya� sville will pay an estimated $380,000 in inter-est during the current � scal year, which ends on June 30. � is kind of taxpayer expense could be eliminated if the city becomes the bank that issues the credit.

When city funds are deposited into private banks, Wall Street bankers loan money as they please to suit their own pur-poses. Having access to credit would enable the city to have its own mini Federal Reserve.

A city-owned bank would not pay state and federal taxes. Tax-payers would be liable for losses.

Hya� sville could o� er loans to stu-dents, small businesses and home-owners, earning additional revenue from the interest. Dividends from a pro� table Bank of Hya� sville would boost revenue for the city and lower the taxes for the citizens.

A Hya� sville Visa or Master-card would allow citizens to make purchases anywhere in the world, with interest bene� ting

the city. � e Hya� sville credit card could o� er rewards points redeemable at local merchants.

Private banks could continue to operate in the city. � e Hy-a� sville public bank could form partnerships with private banks to share risk or buy down an in-terest rate to help spur economic development.

� e Public Banking Institute

(PBI), a nonpro� t organization that advocates for creating state and local publicly owned banks, has more information at its web-site, publicbankinginstitute.org.

For more background on the Wizard of Oz as allegory, our money system, and public bank-ing, see PBI president Ellen Hodgson Brown’s book Web of Debt.

Over the rainbow


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Both times, in addition to steal-ing computers and other house-hold items as the residents slept, the criminals took the homeown-ers’ keys and used them to steal their cars. On January 12, the Volkswagen Jetta stolen in the earlier burglary was recovered in Washington, D.C.

Investigators are working to de-termine whether the two crimes were linked. Sibert, of 4310 Jeffer-son Street, lives less than a quar-ter-mile from both crime scenes. At press time, he was in custody with a $7,500 bond.

But do these high-profile felonies point to a local crime wave? Not according to Hyattsville Police Department statistics released this month. Overall crime in 2012 was down 7.6 percent from the year be-fore. The annual report shows a total of 1,365 crimes committed within the city boundaries last year, com-pared to 1,478 the previous year. Crimes were down in every major category except rape (5, compared to 2 in 2011) and assault (104, up from 94 a year earlier). But assaults using a gun were down from 6 to 1.

Those are both considered crimes against persons, a cat-egory which rose slightly last year, from 180 to 183. The other offenses in that category — car-jacking, homicide and robbery — all decreased. Homicides were down to zero, as they have been for three of the last four years. Citizen robberies are down by 7 percent, but with 69 occurrences last year, were second only to as-saults in this group.

Property crimes, which in-clude the stolen vehicles and residential burglaries of recent headlines, were down nearly 9 percent last year. In 2012, there were fewer stolen vehicles (68) and fewer residential burglaries (127) than in 2011 (88 and 135, respectively). Theft is by far the most common crime committed in Hyattsville, accounting for 71 percent of last year’s total. Most are incidents of shoplifting from area businesses.

The number of thefts in Hyatts-ville nearly doubled in 2007, af-

crime continued from page 1 2012 Crime rePort in HistoriCal Context

tHeft

stolen VeHiCle

Breaking & entering, residential

Breaking & entering, CommerCial

assault

roBBery

raPe

HomiCide

Categorytwo-yearPeak Period

aVerage numBer of inCidents during Peak

2012 inCidents

PerCent CHange

2007-2008

2004-2005

2010-2011

2007-2008

2009-2010

2007-2008

2006-2007

2007-2008

1,357

204

135

115

126

126

6

3.5

973

68

127

11

104

74

5

0

-28%

-67%

-6%

-90%

-17%

-41%

-17%

-100%

ter the city annexed the Mall at Prince George’s. But since then, that number has been steadily declining, along with most other types of crime — despite the fact that population rose 20 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to census data. Statistics seem to show that as Hyattsville has grown larger and more urban, it has also become a safer place to live and do business.

Still, says Hyattsville Police Department Chief Douglas Holland, “if you’re a victim of a crime, you don’t share that view.” To lessen chances of being tar-geted, residents can request a free security survey from a mem-ber of the police Community Action Team. Call 301.985.5060 to make an appointment, and an officer will come to your house to evaluate ways to improve se-curity there. Suggestions may include trimming shrubbery, getting motion-sensor outdoor lighting, or upgrading the locks.


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Documents

January 2013 Hyattsville Life & Times