News

Required Reading: Purple Line delays; Bikeshare Expansion; More shutdown woes

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Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Jan. 11, 2019, edition: Details of a Capital Bikeshare expansion in Greenbelt; Delays in Purple Line construction; How a government shutdown affects a new Hyattsville distillery, and more stories after the jump:

Purple Line opening delayed at least one year – The Washington Post

Key quote: “The private consortium’s reports don’t say how much it would cost in additional labor, equipment and other expenses to open the line in February 2023. The negotiations have focused on who — the state or team of companies — is to blame for which delays and who should pay to offset them.” Capital Bikeshare plans Greenbelt expansion – Greenbelt News Review

Key quote: “According to the proposal, the five locations being considered in Greenbelt are: Greenbelt Station Parkway and North Center Drive; Breezewood Drive and Cherrywood Lane; Roosevelt Center; Crescent Road and Ridge Road (near the police station), and on Hanover Parkway near Eleanor Roosevelt High School”

Board of Public Works awards state tax system overhaul contract – Prince George’s Sentinel

Key quote: “The comptroller’s office currently uses various systems to collect taxes – one of which is a mainframe business tax-collection system that dates to 1987 and another system for individual income taxes and the sales tax, which began use in 1992.”

History

Required Reading: Property values rise in Prince George’s; Murders drop; New laws

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Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Jan. 2, 2018, edition: Murders fall, property values rise in Prince George’s County, and a very old building lives along Route 1. All this and more:

Tax assessments rise dramatically in Prince George’s County – The Baltimore Sun

Murders drop dramatically in Prince George’s County – WTOP

Inside one of the oldest structures along Route 1 – Hyattsville Wire

Maryland takes steps to address climate change – Capital News Service

Legalizing marijuana, banning ‘ghost guns’ on to-do list for Md. lawmakers – WTOP

New laws take effect – WTOP

Homepage Featured
A small suburban storefront is seen, it has clearly suffered a large fire. Charred debris litters the parking lot. The burned storefronts are boarded up with plywood, a van from a "Jenkins Restoration" company is parked outside, bearing the business phone number.

Required Reading: Arson woes for charity; Metro politics; Wet weather

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Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage from other outlets relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 17, 2018, edition: A College Park charity for homeless kids finds itself in need after arson; Metro problems, Metro politics; And a call for more indoor play-spaces. College Park charity devastated by arson (WUSA)

Metro needs late night service, and to not catch on fire (Greater Greater Washington)

Metro struggles with privatization (The Guardian)

Route 1 needs an indoor playspace (The Hyattsville Wire)

Hyattsville’s Holiday Tree lighting makes the season bright (The Hyattsville Life and Times)

Prince George’s walloped by rain (WTOP)

Homepage Featured

New police chief marks many firsts for Hyattsville

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Before a packed room of law enforcement officers and well-wishers at Hyattsville’s city hall, Amal Awad was officially sworn in to her new role as chief of police for the Hyattsville City Police Department. The ceremony took place shortly after 2 p.m. Dec. 13, 2018. In assuming her new title, Awad becomes the first African-American, the first woman, and the first member of the LGBT community to lead Hyattsville’s police. 

In swearing in Awad, Hyattsville Mayor Candace Hollingsworth said the department has a leader committed to maintaining and building trust between the community and the police department. “Amal has dedicated and demonstrated to this community that she will lead the department at the highest level, that our community will have – through her leadership and the work of the police and law enforcement officers that are in this room and from our department and our partners – that our community will have a police department that delivers on the type of community policing that residents value and deserve,” said Hollingsworth during the event.

Brentwood

Details of Brentwood Vol. Fire Dept. embezzlement revealed

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Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department President William Broadus. Several months after the trial ended, the nature of the crimes alleged to have been committed by Steven King have been revealed. King pled guilty in September to charges of embezzlement from the Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department, where formerly served as president of the volunteer squad. The new details were disclosed in an interview with Denise Roberts, spokesperson for the Prince George’s County’s Office of the State’s Attorney. “Basically, he was living at the Fire Department, he was president of the Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department and he used company credit cards for personal expenses,” said Roberts.

Letter from the Editor
A partly-cloudy winter sky hovers over Riverdale Park Station at dusk, seen looking west from the Van Buren Street overpass. In the foreground, the concrete bridge platform curves away from the viewer, leading the eye to an unadorned concrete structure in the center of the photograph. This is the parking garage. It is flanked by rows of townhomes. A white sports utility vehicle is seen on the bridge, driving eastbound.

Reporter’s Notebook: Big development news last week

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It may be repetitive, but once again, I start another Reporter’s Notebook with a big hearty thank you to all of Route 1 Reporter’s subscribers! Last week was a busy one on the news front, especially if you are into development. For starters, Route 1 Reporter was the first news outlet to report on new development activity at Riverdale Park Station, where hundreds of new apartments are either about to start construction or enter the development review pipeline. In all, more than 850 apartment units are planned for the development on parcels closest to the CSX tracks. More on this story below.

Government
Brian Hammock, CSX's resident vice president of Maryland operations sits at a table inside Cottage City's Tow Hall, speaking, framed by two onlookers. He is wearing a blue sweater over a button-up shirt.

CSX neighbors seek remedies for train woes

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Local government officials from several Route 1 corridor towns met with a representative of CSX Corp. this past week to try to find remedies for complaints familiar to anyone who’s ever lived within earshot of a railroad. The complaints included concerns about speeding trains, idling locomotives next to residential neighborhoods, fears of structurally-damaging vibrations and late-night train horns from passing freight liners, risks posed by the transportation of hazardous materials by rail, and the nuisance of late-night track maintenance work. After the meeting, it remains unclear what local or state government leaders can do to remedy these issues. Broadly speaking, local governments have little to no regulatory power over interstate railroads.

Hyattsville

Council rundown: Hyattsville Council gets mass shooter training, weighs vote-by-mail proposal

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Consider it a sign of the times: Hyattsville City Council went through security training at its Monday meeting. Part of the training, administered by Hyattsville City Police Department officers, dealt with the potential for a gunperson to open fire during a City Council meeting. According to multiple Council members, it is the first time city elected officials have participated in such a training scenario. Specific details of the security training were not open to the public. Instead, Hyattsville City Council unanimously voted to enter closed session to receive the security training near the start of its regularly-scheduled Nov.

Brentwood

Bunker Hill Fire Station lawsuit moves through motions

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A lawsuit challenging the consolidation of the volunteer fire departments operating out of the Bunker Hill Fire Station continues to move ahead. This week, lawyers for both sides will be in court for a hearing on pending pre-trail disputes and motions, set for Nov. 20, 2018, in Upper Marlboro. According to a scheduling order issued by presiding judge John Davey, the pre-trial phase of the suit is expected to end by Jan. 30, 2019.