2014 PRIMARY GUIDE, PAGES 5-8
Council backtracks on police budget by Andrew Marder
At the Hyattsville City Council’s May 19 meeting, councilmembers revised their earlier position on the police department’s 2015 budget. The council unanimously voted to add funding for one officer for half of the fiscal year and a K9 unit for the whole year. The two additions will cost the city $48,427, according to City Treasurer Ron Brooks. The decision is a partial reversal of the council’s May 5 ruling, which denied the police department’s request for four additional officers. Three of those positions were frozen in the 2013 budget, and Police Chief Douglas Holland had expected them to be restored in 2014. He also requested that a captain be added to the force. Dozens of Hyattsville area residents attended the May 19 meeting, with many voicing concern about the May 5 decision. Among them was Councilman Tim Hunt (Ward 3), who had supported Holland’s request but missed the May 5 vote due to scheduled travel.
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POLICE continued on page 13
Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 11 No. 6
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
Local artists, craftsmen, farmers intersect at new weekend market Route 1 Farmers Market and Bazaar opens on former car lot by Caroline Selle
What was once a vacant lot has been temporarily transformed into the vibrant and buzzing Route 1 Farmers Market and Bazaar. At the June 6 launch, local government officials and a handful of photographers were among the attendees who meandered through the various booths. Vendors sold handmade crafts and food while guitar and electric cello music wafted through the late-spring air. Vendors included local businesses and artists Shabadaba Chic and Table Rustique. John Martin, a metal sculptor, displayed a table full of carefully upcycled junkyard finds, and Melissa Glasser displayed her paintings of dancers alongside some of Grayson Heck’s photographs. Hermione Rhones modeled some of her work as she sold it, including a crocheted halter top with a denim liner upcycled from a pair of old blue jeans. From the looks of the line, Washington, D.C.-based blog
CAROLINE SELLE A market attendee shops for greens at 5 a Day CSA, one of the Route 1 Farmers Market and Bazaarʼs opening night vendors. The market was held on the former B&J auto lot.
and business The Timid Palate had one of the most popular setups. “Swirl, smell, and sip,” said founder Donna M. Taylor, teach-
ing attendees the basics of wine tasting. Jonathan Wilson, a resident of D.C.’s Trinidad neighborhood,
Protesters want war memorial to stay put Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
June 2014
by Katy Carl
On May 31, hundreds of area residents gathered at the Bladensburg Peace Cross in a demonstration against a lawsuit claiming that the 1925 war memorial violates the First Amendment’s
ban on government-run religion. The monument stands at the junction of Routes 1 and 450. Nearby are other memorials for those who died in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and 9/11, as well as a new memorial for soldiers of the War of 1812, which will be
dedicated in August as part of the Battle of Bladensburg bicentennial commemoration. The land the Peace Cross stands on is owned by the MarylandNational Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), which administers parks and
attended the market with his two sons, who ate Rita’s Italian BAZAAR continued on page 13
planning in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. However, the American Legion raised $23,000 of the $25,000 needed to build the cross shortly after the end of World War I and has maintained it on the same spot ever since. Many people see no reason to MEMORIAL continued on page 12
Included: The June 11, 2014 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section