September 2014 Hyattsville Life & Times

Page 1

FINDING FALL FASHION

REMEMBERING HYATTSVILLE HIGH

DESIGN CHARRETTE

This month’s Secondhand News takes a look at one of the easiest and cheapest ways to find new fashion: a clothing swap. Read on for the author’s do’s and don’ts. PAGE 7

In Postcards from the Past, writer Peggy Dee remembers what high school looked like during World War II — when girls took home economics, boys took shop and students worked in the cafeteria. PAGE 8

Zoning changes will bring more development to Prince George’s Plaza Metro area. County planners want to know what you think. PAGE 4

Arts school launches with new principal by Andrew Marder

West Hyattsville’s new elementary school, Edward M. Felegy, opened on August 25 with new principal Walter Reap at the helm. Previously, Reap worked in Anne Arundel County, where he spent nine years at Germantown Elementary in Annapolis. Felegy will be the second new elementary school building whose launch Reap has overseen, as Germantown moved during his tenure. “It’s incredible. This is my second new school and this building makes my old [one] look like a factory,” Reap said. “This is how a new school is supposed to be.” Even from the outside, it’s clear that Felegy is meant to have an artistic feel. The building’s exterior has what Reap calls a “West Coast vibe,” with clean lines and sweeping roofs. The design is meant to communicate the school’s creative and performing arts focus. Felegy gives children a chance to explore dance, music, and the visual arts, with extra time set aside for these activities. On opening day, Reap was put in charge of 650 new students from four Prince George’s County schools. Those students have all been thrust together in a new

Hyattsville Life&Times

Vol. 11 No. 9

Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper

City police suspended from controversial military program

Ban may stem from stolen assault rifle in 2010; city will seek reinstatement by Caroline Selle

FELEGY continued on page 13

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID EASTON MD PERMIT NO. 43

September 2014

SUSIE CURRIE The Hyattsville Humvee debuted in August at the National Night Out Against Crime. It is one of many military-surplus items the Hyattsville Police Department has received through a federal program, but there will be no more unless the HPD can successfully appeal its suspension.

The Hyattsville Police Department (HPD) has been suspended from the federal militarysurplus program that gave the city a Humvee this year – as well as many other previously undisclosed items dating back to at least 2006. (See page 12.) Among these items are four assault rifles that were acquired in 2006 and 2008, according to a partial list provided by the Maryland State Police. One of these was stolen from a Hyattsville police cruiser on July 11, 2010, when Ofc. Danielle Gray parked her cruiser overnight in the 1500 block of Madison Street in Chillum. The next morning, according to the police report, she found the windows broken and police properPOLICE continued on page 12

New path links neighborhood to green space Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781

by Susie Currie

One of Hyattsville’s many selling points is its proximity to the Anacostia Tributary Trail System, which is bordered by Charles Armentrout Drive at the city’s southernmost point. But for years, the only direct route from parts of Ward 1 was a steep, crumbling and largely vestigial block of 41st Place. That little stretch of neglected asphalt was

once a prime cut-through to Charles Armentrout Drive, but the City put a stop to that at some point in the 1990s by installing a guardrail at the top of the hill, on Crittenden Street. After that, the amputated roadway seemed to have outlived its usefulness. Virtually inaccessible by car, it was used mostly by the hardy hikers and bikers who first had to navigate a rotating assortment of obstacles on Crittenden. (The guardrail has given way to bollards, snow fencing and traffic cones.)

The idea for converting it into a connector has been around since 2002, when the City first applied for a Community Parks & Playgrounds grant from the state. Several plans, grants and DPW directors later, the new Melrose Access Trail has nearly come to fruition. Well, almost. “We’re not quite finished with it,” Hyattsville Public Works Director Lesley Riddle TRAIL continued on page 5

Included: The September 9, 2014 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section


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