Hyattsville Life & Times April 2010

APPLES FOR LOCAL TEACHERS

by Sarah Nemeth The city of Hyattsville is doing something new as it begins its budget process for the next fiscal year.

It’s called performance-based budgeting, which allocates resources in accordance with city objectives.

Each department has created a mission, complete with goals, objectives, and measures – but without numbers attached. In two meetings last month, department heads explained to the council how their plans synchronize with the city goals and objectives adopted in December, said Treasurer Anthony Rainey.

The departmental goals and objectives are measured in terms of inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes. For example, if a tree branch falls and a resident places a call for service, that act is considered an input. Responding to the call, such as scheduling the removal, would be the activity. The output would be the action taken to remove the branch and the outcome would be how well the service was performed – how quickly and efficiently.

On March 24, in a third meeting, the council voted dozens of times to prioritize the proposed services and projects presented by each department head. Three council members, Ruth Ann Frazier (Ward 5), Nicole Hinds Mofor

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit # 43 Easton, MD 21601

BUDGET continued on page 9

Anacostia Hours, a small Mount Rainier-based organization, has created a bartering system that helps members reduce their carbon footprint. PAGE 9

Hyattsville

Four Hyattsville teachers earned National Board Certification, the most prestigious credential a teacher can earn. PAGE 3

City tries a new way of budgeting

HOUR BY HOUR

GIVING A HAND Miss Floribunda gives hints on how to protect your hands while gardening. PAGE 4

Life&Times

Vol. 7 No. 4

Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper

St. Jerome's weighs cutting infant care, ties with nuns

by Susie Currie and Paula Minaert

SPRING CHICKENS?

by Chris Currie

It has become a familiar story. You've earned your slice of American Dream pie: moved into a home in Hyattsville, accumulated your share of significant others/children/ friends/possessions, settled into a life you can call your own.

Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781

April 2010

Except. Maybe you're a yuppie who’s feeling a midlife crisis coming on; or a crunchy type drawn to simpler, natural lifestyles; or an empty-nester looking for something to nurture; or a parent seeking a bit more chaos to go with your kids; or a new American feeling nostalgic for the life you left behind in your native land. In any event, in your full and otherwise satisfying life, there's just something ... missing.

For an increasing number of Hyattsville residents, that something is chickens. That's right: These fowl creatures are becoming objects of desire for urban

dwellers from coast to coast, due to a grass-roots movement to legalize backyard chicken farming in our cities and suburbs. A veritable industry of books and blogs has mushroomed to explain the intricacies of home livestock husbandry to those whose poultry experience has so far been limited to the refrigerated section of their local supermarket.

Here in Hyattsville, chicken fever has been spreading at least since the summer of 2006, when a clutch

A recent announcement of staffing and service changes at St. Jerome’s School and Child Center touched off a wave of reactions, from a Facebook group to a prayer vigil, that may delay the restructuring.

In a letter to St. Jerome’s families on Friday, March 20, the church’s pastor, Fr. James Stack, wrote that he had arrived at the “painful decision” to “end the mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur,” the order of nuns that has been at the school since its inception. He added that the child ST. JEROME'S continued on page 11

Police talk safety for commuters

by Nicole Dao In the late evening, Elizabeth Johnson is alert and has her keys in hand when she walks from the Prince George’s Plaza Metro station to her Hyattsville apartment as part of her daily commute.

But after hearing about recent crime in the area around the station — five robberies so far this year — the concerned single mother wanted to find out if she was doing all she could to stay safe. So last month, she attended a meeting sponsored by the city

CHICKENS continued on page 10 SAFETY continued on page 9

Included: The April 14, 2010 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section

Page 2

Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

FromTheEditor

One great thing about Hyattsville

by Paula Minaert Back in February, our boiler began to malfunction, unable to keep the house warm. Of course, it was old when we moved in 30 years ago so we weren’t too surprised.

The surprise came a few days later.

We came home after several hours away to find the house like a sauna.

Waves of heat hit us as we walked in.

“It must have stuck on ‘on,’” said my husband. We ran to the basement and found that the meter showing the temperature of the water in the boiler was in the red area — about 320 degrees. So we shut it down and began the process of

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) nonprofit corporation. Interested reporters should send their e-mail addresses to the editor to be reminded of deadlines and receive internal news. Articles and news submitted 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 editor, etc. , e-mail Hyattsvillelifeandtimes@gmail.com.

Executive Editor Paula Minaert paula@hyattsvillelife.com 301-335-2519 Managing Editor Susie Currie susie@hyattsvillelife.com 301-633-9209 Editorial Intern Hannah Bruchman Production Ashley Perks Advertising Director Felix Speight advertising@hyattsvillelife.com 202-341-5670 Writers & Contributors Daniel Hart Victoria Hille Kimberly Schmidt Hugh Turley Board of Directors Julia Duin - President Chris Currie - Vice President Jamie Aycock - General Counsel Paula Minaert - Secretary Susie Currie - Ex Officio Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. Mail to every address in Hyattsville. Additional copies are distributed to libraries, selected businesses, community centers and churches in the city. Total circulation is 7,500.

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replacing it, after offering a prayer of gratitude that it hadn’t exploded.

The whole experience has made me realize that I’m glad we live in Hyattsville. What’s the connection? We were able to get someone we knew and trusted to do the work, rather than a stranger: a Hyattsville resident, a licensed contractor who lives a few blocks away and whose children went to school with our children. We did the recommended thing, and got estimates from three companies, but decided on him. His crew did the work the day after he came over and we were happy.

We were even happier a few days

later. We had to call him back because the new furnace didn’t seem to be heating. Someone showed up about an hour later, diagnosed the problem (not the installation but dust and soot and pieces of masonry falling down our chimney and clogging a vent), and fixed it.

Problem solved.

It reminds me of something I learned in Psychology 101, called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Essentially, it says that people need the basics – water, food, and shelter – before they can even think about things like politics, art, literature, and technology.

The basics form the foundation of

our lives, and what we think of as the higher things enrich our lives.

When my husband and I moved to Hyattsville in 1979, the city was known mostly for its car dealerships and fast-food restaurants.

Now, our lives are enriched by physicists, painters, writers, engineers, musicians, and so on. We have a well-respected arts community that is drawing people here. We are focusing on what Maslow called the higher needs.

Hyattsville also has plumbers, electricians, carpenters, car repair people, and handymen. We haven’t abandoned the basics, either — which is important. They’re the foundation on

which everything depends.

A coda to this story: I smelled gas in our house on Friday, April 2. We called Washington Gas and the man discovered two gas leaks in the pipes in the basement.

“I’m going to have to shut off your gas,” he said, “unless you can get someone in here today to fix them.”

It was Good Friday. I had visions of serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Easter dinner. We called our neighbor, who assured Washington Gas that someone could come in half an hour. He came and Easter dinner was saved.

As I said, I’m grateful we live in Hyattsville.

MyTwoCents No truck with vehicle restrictions

by Joe Fugere I work with floors and trees. My particular specialty is transforming older floors into ballroom-quality ones. Approximately 95 percent of my employment is here in Hyattsville.

I am concerned about too many restrictions being placed on the trades here in the city. Specifically, I’m referring to the possibility of increased restrictions on commercial vehicle parking. There have been efforts to impose such restrictions in the past, and the issue has not been settled.

We trades people rely on vehicles to carry tools and materials to and from our projects. Commercial trucks and vans are our mainstay, just as Blackberries are for many people.

How does this affect Hyattsville?

I often am able to perform services here at a reduced rate because I can virtually walk to the home in need. When I have to travel outside the city, and include those costs, my fees are substantially higher.

If I cannot park my work vehicles here where I live, the same thing would happen. Everyone would be adversely affected: we who provide services, those of you who want and need our services, and the people who work with us.

As a community, we are interconnected. The wires and pipes that run in our homes reflect the

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE FUGERE interdependence of Hyattsville residents and local workers. We know this with each burst pipe, crumbling wall, and short circuit.

Let me also point out that our trucks and vans make us neighborhood-ready, part of the local economy, and green times two.

•Neighborhood-ready: Hyattsville is a “neighborhood of services.” Residents can call night or day for services. They know who can fix their leaky pipes or the window broken by a stray baseball. Often within the hour, or a few hours, the local professional is on the scene. This is only possible by having services located nearby and driving a locally sited “commercial” service vehicle. Also, convenience is secondary to security. All the listservs say to go with

someone you know or someone your neighbor knows.

•

Local economy: The presence of work vehicles here reflects the need for our services in local households. In turn, we trades people depend on successive upgrades and repairs in homes throughout the city. The success of this interdependence relies upon these commercial vehicles and the continuation of the trade or craft, whether it’s woodworking or pipe fitting or painting or roof repair: our vehicles are our Blackberries!

We survive — and can flourish — with our basic technology.

• Green times two: Locally sited vehicles offer green benefits: energy savings and smog reduction. But Hyattsville sports

another shade of green: reuse, recycle, re-create, in modest upgrades done by local craftspeople.

For instance, old building materials, fixtures, and appliances are replaced in a kitchen remodeling project and are then recycled to Community Forklift, where used building materials are sold at affordable prices. Community Forklift depends on craft workers to identify these salvage materials.

An informal network also exists: a carpenter in one house installs classic fixtures left over from a job done last week. Landfill space not filled: all made possible by those with commercial vehicles.

Finally, making room for trades and crafts workers also supports our Arts District. Many of our artists work with and for those of us with trucks. Artists typically use day jobs to leverage money for living, equipment, and the precious time to create.

Hyattsville residents are blessed with an abundance of skilled artisans at their beck and call, who often can provide services at reduced rates. This reduces anxiety for residents and makes for a convivial atmosphere of peaceful cooperation and co-existence. This is how we — all of us — survive in Hyattsville.

Joe Fugere, a 23-year Hyattsville resident, owns the Conspicuous Cleaning Company.

Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

Page 3

RECYCLING EFFORTS

Loving Care Pediatrics Janet V. Johnson, MD

6525 Belcrest Road Suite #203 Hyattsville, Maryland 20783 Tel: 301-403-8808 Fax: 301-403-1341

PHOTO BY MYLIE DURHAM Department of Public Works employees Robert Wilks, Orlando Bostic, Charles Briggs, and Joe E. Lancaster with some of the items turned in at the city's electronic recycling day on March 13. The next one will be June 5.

Four area teachers earn prestigious certification

by Bart Lawrence Two things in life are certain: death and budget cuts to education. Or so it seems, with county executive Jack Johnson’s recent proposal to cut nearly $60 million from next year’s Prince George’s County Public Schools budget.

But there’s a diamond in the rough of layoffs and furloughs.

Four Hyattsville-area teachers recently earned what county schools superintendent William R. Hite, Jr., called “the most prestigious credential a teacher can earn� — National Board Certification.

The third annual National Board Certified Teachers Pinning Ceremony, on March 3 at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, honored 51 Prince George's County teachers and support staff. Among them were Hyattsville Middle School science teacher Heather Anglin, Northwestern High School English teacher Tyra Jenkins, and Hyattsville Elementary School teachers Laura Arkus and Stephanie Chapman.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, an independent organization that aims to improve education by developing professional teaching standards, offers a national voluntary certification system. Described by a staff member as “grueling,� achieving certification can take up to two years and involves many hours of study and reflection on the teaching process.

But the payoffs, many agree, are significant. Chapman, a reading resource specialist, said the process made her "a more reflective teacher who is constantly trying to improve."

And Hite said that National Board

Certification can “play a significant role in changing the culture of our

school district."

Hyattsville Elementary School Principal Jeanne Washburn said her two newly pinned educators “are terrific teachers and we are fortunate to have them,� adding that the rest of the school staff is no less dedicated or hard-working. “I think it’s great that Hyattsville has more national board certified teachers," said Evelin Letarte, mother of a kindergartener at the school. "We should encourage more teachers to go for [it].�

Ever since the March 3 pinning ceremony, Jenkins has worn her pin daily as a reminder to “stay on point every day to ensure that all of my students become lifelong learners.� Lifelong learners – could parents ask for anything more?

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Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

EASTER EGGS-CITEMENT

MissFloribunda Dear Miss Floribunda, My friends tell me that my hands look awful and that I ought to wear gloves while gardening.

I try to make them understand that I’m not vain and having my hands in the soil is half the pleasure of gardening for me.

I like to compare myself to Atlas, who got his strength from contact with the earth. Aside from that, I find that gloves are awkward, making weeding and handling seeds and seedlings much more difficult.

Another argument I’ve heard in favor of gloves is that you never know when a nail fallen from the house or some sharp foreign object found in county mulch will cut you. Knowing from experience this can happen, I’ve gotten a tetanus shot.

But before I definitively throw down the garden gauntlet, I’d like your opinion.

— Unmanicured on Madison Street Dear Unmanicured, Quite a few gardeners feel the way you do, and there is a scientifically supported reason. Researchers at Bristol University and University College London discovered that soil contains the Mycobacterium vaccae. This bacterium when absorbed in the skin – whether by gardeners or children making mud pies – stimulates serotonin in the brain. It’s not for nothing that serotonin is called the “happiness hormone.” So, along with the joy of fresh air, exercise, and the songs of birds, you’re taking

in a kind of anti-depressant.

Gloves would interfere with that.

However, there are some very sobering reasons why you ought to wear gloves anyway.

You mention an important one: sharp objects in the soil. You do well to keep current on your tetanus shots. Also, many plants are themselves dangerous to touch. Alluding to the gauntlet you want to throw down, most rosarians wear leather ones that come to the elbows when pruning their roses, along with leather boots and thick denim from shoulder to toe. Pruning well-established roses can be like wrestling wildcats and even when I’ve been otherwise well-protected thorny canes have lashed me across the face savagely enough to draw blood. Less obviously aggressive plants can be insidious and exude toxins. Joe FoxGlover tells me that when he picks, weeds, or transplants his foxgloves he himself wears gloves. The enchanting foxglove, which looks like the perfect home for flower fairies, has a dark side. It is an important source of digitalis, which in miniscule doses is a boon to cardiology – but in larger doses it’s fatal. Yankee soldiers going through Mississippi during the Civil War died after eating food served on the leaves of the beautiful oleander. The berries of the demure daphne will kill when ingested. Plants with gently poetic names like angel

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trumpet, bleeding heart, lily-ofthe-valley, and larkspur are also very poisonous. Though less lethal, it’s a good idea to wash your hands after handling daffodils, chrysanthemums, lilies, azaleas, and hydrangeas. And don’t think you need not wear gloves when tending your house plants either. My neighbor, Gale N. Knight, had to go to the emergency room after pruning her dieffenbachia. Among other potentially dangerous house plant favorites are philodendrons, kalanchoe, euphorbia, and cyclamen. Addressing the awkwardness you experienced wearing gardening gloves, there are now gloves on the market that do not interfere with dexterity. There is even a silicon (note: not silicone) spray to protectively coat your hands.

For further discussion and to participate in a plant exchange, please come to the next meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society on Saturday, April 17, at the home of Joe Buriel, 3909 Longfellow Street.

The meeting begins at 10 a.m.

And in the future, you may check our new website: hyattsvillehorticulture.org.

Miss Floribunda is the collected wisdom of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society, compiled and edited by Victoria Hille.

PHOTOS BY VALERIE RUSSELL At the city-sponsored Great Magruder Park Egg Hunt on March 27, families braved crisp, windy weather to fill their Easter baskets after enjoying a pre-hunt pancake breakfast.

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Legend Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

Page 5

and

LORE

The Underground Railroad and Anacostia’s Northwest Branch

by Kimberly Schmidt When the English explorer Captain John Smith first sailed up the Anacostia River in 1608, he noted an area abundant in wildlife, with crystal clear waters running 40 feet deep and home to sturgeon, in particular.

For Native Americans, it was a thriving commerce route, and they came from as far away as upstate New York to trade along its banks. (That heritage is still evident today; “Anna Kastia” is an English derivation of an Indian word meaning “town of traders.”)

But for a small band of 19thcentury fugitives, the Northwest Branch was a passage to freedom. They hid by day and

by night were guided by the river and a star. Slogging through marshy wetlands, the group followed this leg of the Underground Railroad from the District line through Hyattsville and north to Sandy Spring, Md., a village still known today for its historic anti-slavery sympathies and Quaker identity. From there the fugitives hop scotched from one Quaker community to the next, across Maryland’s northern slave territory into free Pennsylvania.

In 2007, students of history, under the auspices of the Anacostia Watershed Society, re-enacted the flight from slavery to freedom along the Anacostia’s riverbanks. The event highlights the river’s importance in the

local history of our region.

Washington, D.C., the southernmost terminus of the Underground Railroad, became a magnet for runaway slaves.

Siting the nation’s permanent capital on the Potomac in 1800 sandwiched it between the two states with the heaviest concentrations of blacks. We may not think of Maryland and Virginia as the Deep South, but we should remember that they were the Old South, the states where slavery was first established in the colonies.

The capital city was a haven for free blacks, who by 1860 outnumbered slaves there. But nearby Alexandria was home to some of the most notorious slave auctions in the South, and in Maryland, slaves and land were the two most valuable taxed and

traded commodities.

Having made it to Washington, a fugitive could blend into the thriving free black population before following the Northwest Branch to freedom. Often, Native Americans helped them get to the capital, despite a 1666 treaty that required them to return slaves to their English masters. The language was unambiguous: “In case any Servants or slaves run away from their Masters and come to any of the Indian Towns ... the said Indians shall apprehend them and bring them to the next English Plantation to be conveyed to their Masters.”

As early as 1666, mention is made of slaves escaping to Native American villages along the Anacostia. Relations between colonists and Native Americans were often strained as tribes consistently harbored runaways.

A 1681 letter to Lord Baltimore from a local landowner stated that “the foreign Indians hath a fort above the Eastern Branch

neere the falls of Pottomac and that four of Mr. George Brent’s Runnaways … taken by them … made their Escape.”

Now, over 400 years later, one wonders: What would Captain Smith note today if he made the same trip? The river has become a statement about the health of the communities that border it and our faltering attempts to sustain a natural habitat in the midst of an urban area. Preserving our heritage includes this valuable community resource, and you can help at the Anacostia Watershed Society’s annual cleanup on April 24 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

See www.anacostiaws.org for details and L&L will see you there!

Kimberly Schmidt is the president of the Hyattsville Preservation Association. Her next column will focus on the Great Flood of 1955. Anyone who remembers this flood, a result of Hurricane Connie, is welcome to contact her at kim.schmidt@emu.edu.

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Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

COMMUNITY CALENDAR April 16 and 17

Remember your New Year’s resolution to get healthy? Come re-introduce your body to fitness at Get Fit! Get Moving! Health and Fitness Expo, where you can sample Latin and African dance demonstrations, canoeing, kayaking, yoga, martial arts, and more. Free. Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg. 301.779.0371.

At University United Methodist Church’s spring rummage sale, you can browse linens, jewelry, furniture, kitchenware, books, CDs and DVDs, children’s items and more. Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 3621 Campus Drive, College Park. 301.422.1400.

April 17 Prince George’s County Master Gardeners present Making Simple Terrariums and the Water Cycle, a program for ages 6 to 12.

Free; registration required. Noon. Hyattsville library, 6530 Adelphi Road. 301.985.4690.

The Seniors Spring Fashion Affair proves that being in vogue knows no age limits, with models ages 60 and up walking the runway. $8. Reservations required. 1 to 4 p.m. Rollingcrest Community Center, 6120 Sargent Road, Chillum. 301.853.2005

April 17 and 18 Travel through military history at Marching Through Time, an encampment reenactment spanning more than 2,000 years from the Bronze Age Celts to the Gulf War. The schedule includes military drills, vendors, crafts, children’s activities, and more.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. $5; free for children under 4. Marietta House Museum, 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale. 301.464.5291.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIETTA HOUSE MUSEUM See millennia of military history at Marching Through Time, a weekend of demonstrations at Marietta House Museum.

April 21 to 24 The Dallas Black Dance Theatre returns to the Publick Playhouse for a series of matinees, demonstrations, and evening performances. Call for schedule and price information. 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly. 301.277.1710.

April 23 University Park Elementary School hosts an Open House for all those interested in the school. Free. 8:30 a.m. 4315 Under-

wood St., University Park. 301.985.1898.

April 24 With 400 events to choose from, the tough part will be narrowing down what to do at Maryland Day, the University of Maryland’s annual open house featuring performances, concerts, demonstrations, sports, and more. Free. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Throughout the campus in College Park. For schedule and details, visit www.marylandday.umd.edu/.

Hyattsville’s 124th Anniversary Parade & Festival begins with a parade of classic cars, elected officials, marching bands, community and youth groups, dance troupes, and more. It starts at 11 a.m. from Hyattsville Middle School (6001 42nd Avenue) and will wind through residential neighborhoods to finish at Magruder Park (3911 Hamilton Street), where there will be rides, games, live music, and more.

April 27 Come see Jim West’s larger-than-life puppets at Aesop’s Fables, a show about Aesop’s dog, Moral, who shows off his karate techniques while getting into trouble. Designed for ages 4 to 8.

10:15 a.m. to noon. $6. Publick Playhouse, 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly.

301.277.1710.

CALENDAR continued on page 7

FREE ELECTRONICS RECYCLING PROGRAM SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 2010, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 NOON CITY OF HYATTSVILLE DPW YARD, 4633 ARUNDEL PLACE, HYATTSVILLE

THE CITY OF HYATTSVILLE WILL PROVIDE RESIDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISPOSE OF THE FOLLOWING UNWANTED OR UNUSABLE EQUIPMENT: • COMPUTER MONITORS • CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS • PRINTERS • COMPUTER KEYBOARDS, MOUSE & WIRE

• VCRS • RADIOS • COPIERS • TELEVISIONS • CELL PHONES

*A MAXIMUM OF 8 ITEMS WILL BE ACCEPTED PER HOUSEHOLD.*

THIS PROGRAM IS OPEN TO CITY OF HYATTSVILLE RESIDENTS ONLY. INDIVIDUALS PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROGRAM WILL BE REQUIRED TO SHOW PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION INCLUDE A DRIVER’S LICENSE, MILITARY IDENTIFICATION, A TAX, WATER OR CABLE BILL.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR

CALENDAR

unteers will be on hand to offer assistance. 8 to 11 a.m. $5; preregistration required. Lake Artemesia, 8200 55th Avenue, Berwyn Heights. 301.627.6074.

continued from page 6

May 1 The University Park Co-Op will be hosting its Annual Spring Children’s Clothing & Toy Sale, where consigners offer deals on gently worn children’s and teen’s clothing, books, sports equipment, maternity clothes, and toys.

Cash only. Free. 10 a.m. to noon.

Riverdale Presbyterian Church, 6513 Queens Chapel Road, University Park. 301.346.3327.

May 8 Come bring your son or daughter to Mother Goose Tea to drink tea and eat snacks highlighting their favorite nursery rhyme characters. Reservations and payment required in advance. Ages 6 and up. 2 p.m. $15. Marietta House Museum, 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale. 301.464.5291.

Get your children hooked on fishing at Big Bubba’s Fishing Rodeo, a rain-or-shine event for small fry and their parents. Each registered child will receive bait and a fishing rod to keep. Vol-

May 9 On Mother’s Day, Riversdale House Museum offers free admission to moms accompanied by visitors paying the regular admission fee of $3 for adults, $1 for ages 5 to 18. Limit one free tour with each paid one. Open from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. 4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park.

301.864.0420.

University Boulevard entrance to the University of Maryland.

301.405.2787. For tickets, contact jmitchell@dematha.org.

May 15 Do your little ones love animals?

Bring them to the A-May-Zing Animal Fest to see reptiles, farm animals, puppet shows and more. Free. Noon to 4 p.m. Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg.

301.779.0371.

May 16

At the Hyattsville Elementary School PTA General Meeting, you can learn about volunteer opportunities and ongoing efforts to support academic achievement.

6:30 p.m. 5311 43rd Avenue.

301.312.9170.

Save the date for the 31st Annual Historic Hyattsville House Tour, featuring nine homes in a variety of architectural styles, from bungalows to Queen Annes.

1 to 5 p.m. $12 ($10 in advance, available at Franklins). Maps available the day of the tour at the Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. 301.699.3849.

May 13

Ongoing

DeMatha Catholic High School Wind Ensemble marks its 40th anniversary with a spring concert. $15. 7:30 p.m. Ina and Jack Kay Theatre, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, near the

Spring means it’s time again for the free Anacostia River Boat Tours, held Tuesday through Friday from April 13 through Oct. 29. Join a park naturalist on a pontoon boat to search for birds and other wildlife.

May 11

OLD DOMINION

BREWHOUSE & RESTAURANT

PHOTO COURTESY OF SONYA KITCHENS/PUBLICK PLAYHOUSE Aesop's Fables, a puppet show, is playing at the Publick Playhouse.

3-6: Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. 6530 Adelphi Road. 301.985.4690.

All ages welcome. Free. Noon to 12:45 p.m. Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg. 301.779.0371.

Community Calendar is compiled

by Hannah Bruchman and Susie Currie. 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 consideration, please e-mail susie@ hyattsvillelife.com or mail to P.O. Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781.

Deadline for May submissions is April 23.

The Hyattsville library offers a variety of storytimes. Space is limited; free tickets available at the Children’s Desk. Ages 9-23 months with caregiver: Mondays, 10:15 a.m. Ages 2-3: Mondays, 11 a.m. and Tuesdays, 10:15 a.m. Ages 3-5: Tuesdays, 11 a.m. Ages 3-6: Wednesdays, 7 p.m. EnglishSpanish Storytime for ages

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Hugh’sNews Documents reveal judges’ deliberations on a death

by Hugh Turley Vincent Foster, former president Bill Clinton’s deputy White House counsel, died nearly 17 years ago, and his death was ruled a suicide.

But recent research has revealed that the judges who appointed the independent counsel investigating his death were worried about “be[ing] charged as conspirators in the cover-up,” in the words of Judge John Butzner.

Butzner was part of a three-judge panel on the Special Division of the District of Columbia Circuit that had appointed Kenneth Starr to investigate several matters relating to the Clintons’ Whitewater land deal, an inquiry that grew to include Foster’s 1993 death.

Notes between the now-deceased Butzner and his colleagues Peter Fay and David Sentelle are part of the collection of Butzner’s papers at the University of Virginia’s law library. They show discussion about whether to include the testimony of Whitewater grand jury witness Patrick Knowlton, who had been at Fort Marcy Park the day Foster’s body was found. As a passerby, he testified that Foster’s Honda was not at the park at the time of death. Foster therefore could not have driven to the park in his car, as claimed by Starr.

Knowlton asked the judges to include additional evidence based on official records contradicting Starr’s report: Other witnesses did not see Foster’s car, the gun found was not his, there was a bullet hole in his neck, crime scene photographs and X-rays had disappeared. Knowlton provided evidence he was the victim of witness intimidation by Starr’s staff.

On Sept. 24, 1997, Judge Sentelle sent his colleagues Knowlton’s motion to include comments and factual information as an appendix to the report on Foster’s death. Sentelle told them: “The question of what to do with his comments is not an easy one. ... If I were forced to decide the question alone, it would be my inclination to deny the motion.”

Judge Fay disagreed with Sentelle. “[Knowlton] does comment on specific findings and conclusions in the report,” he argued.

“He contradicts specific factual matters and takes issue with the very basics of the report filed by the [Independent Counsel].”

The following day Butzner concurred. “I suspect if we deny the motion we will be charged as conspirators in the cover-up,” he wrote. “I suggest we let the motion and the attachments speak for themselves.”

That afternoon, Sentelle faxed his colleagues a message that, after reviewing their memos, he had changed his mind and agreed to draft an order granting the motion. So on Sept. 26, the court ordered that Knowlton’s comments and evidence be included in Starr’s report. On Sept. 29, Starr filed a motion appealing the order. It was denied the next day, marking the first time in history that an Independent Counsel was ordered to include in his report evidence of a cover-up by his own investigators.

After Starr’s motion was denied and before the report was made public, Knowlton and his attorney visited the Associated Press office to show the reporter on the case the evidence contradicting Starr that had been ordered part of the final report.

They were not prepared for his response. “[The reporter] told us the story was already written and [the cause of death] was suicide,” Knowlton told the Life & Times.

“We did not believe the press could ignore the court-ordered attachment.”

Now, for 13 years, the American press has not reported on the Knowlton appendix, and the attachments did not “speak for themselves” as Butzner envisioned. But the press has reported the latest news about Kenneth Starr — he will become the president of Baylor University this June.

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Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

Page 9

SAFETY

Commuter Safety Tips

continued from page 1 police department to educate local residents about commuter safety, including an update on new policies and security measures being implemented in the area.

While Johnson generally feels safe riding the Metro, she says the lack of foot traffic in some areas concerns her.

“There is not too much activity from the Metro entrance to the garage,” she explained.

Police Chief Douglas Holland said that surveillance devices to monitor pedestrian areas are being installed.

“We are in the process of implementing a system of closed-circuit televisions and emergency call boxes around the county,” he said.

Acting Sgt. Mike Rudinski said one main reason commuters are easy targets for predators is the use of iPods.

“If you’re wearing an iPod, you’re telling a criminal you have a $150 minimum item that he wants in your pocket,” he said. “[Also,] you are taking away one of your senses, which is hearing.”

Sgt. Jerome Enoch of the Metro Transit Police Department agreed. “I could’ve taken at least 10 [iPods] today,” said Enoch, who added that he witnesses commuters being careless with their possessions every day.

Global positioning systems, too, are likely targets for theft. Enoch advises commuters who park in the garage to hide their GPS devices including the stands to guard against break-ins.

And in the worst-case scenario, if you are approached by a predator, officers advise

BUDGET

continued from page 1 (Ward 5) and David Hiles (Ward 2), were absent but gave their input at a later date.

“I think this process provides information about department priorities and requests to council and the public early in the process, although the cost of [each activity] isn’t available,” Mayor Bill Gardiner said.

“It was designed to give guidance to the directors, the city administrator, and me as we put together the FY11 proposed budget,” Gar-

Walk with your keys in your hand: Have your keys ready to go so you remain alert instead of fumbling around in your purse or pockets.

Walk with a friend: Whenever possible, walk with other people to decrease your chances of being preyed on. Avoid deserted areas.

Don’t wear your iPod: Listening to music while walking to your car or home takes away your sense of hearing. If you must listen to your iPod, have only one earbud in.

Listen to your sixth sense: When the feeling of paranoia comes, don’t ignore it. Change direction, walk across the street, or find an area with a lot of foot traffic.

Carry pepper spray: In Maryland, pepper spray is legal and can be a very powerful self-defense mechanism. One spray can be your escape to call for help.

handing over the goods — and being as observant as possible.

“You want to be the best witness that you can be,” said Rudinski, who told commuters to note not only the physical features but also the clothing and shoes of the predator to report to the police.

Johnson left feeling more secure about commuting on the Metro. “After the meeting, I did not see that there was a need for alarm,” she said. “I do feel relieved to know that there are action items [to improve safety].”

diner added. “I believe this process allows council to provide input and review the department proposed activities earlier than in the past, and that should be helpful.”

The new process came about partly as a result of a management and efficiency study conducted last year by consultants TATC. “It is a whole new process,” said Communications Manager Abigail Sandel. “The goal is to set priorities before we talk about dollar amounts. This should make it easier to allocate funds, and, so far, things are going as intended.”

Minting “money”

by Alex Scarfone By now, you’ve probably heard about events commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, on April 22. But if you’re looking to do more for the environment the rest of the year, a nearby group may have the answer.

Anacostia Hours, a small Mount Rainier-based organization, has created a bartering system that helps members reduce their carbon footprint, says the group’s president, Nick Williams.

It all started four years ago, when Sayuri Miyazaki got an idea from programs she remembered from her native Japan. She designed a local currency similar to Monopoly money in denominations of one hour, one half-hour, and one quarter-hour. The bills give a nod to U.S. dollars with round portraits on the front, featuring the likes of Rachel Carson and Frederick Douglass instead of American presidents.

Members agree to accept the hours as at least partial payment for specified goods or services. Since its inception, the organization has exchanged about 550 hours and now has about 70 active members. All it takes to join is a $5 contribution — which gets you one hour, one half-hour, and two quarter-hours — and an idea of what you could barter. A “finder’s fee” of two hours goes to the person who brings a new member into the system.

“The idea is that everyone in these little towns can get some of their basic needs met locally,

There were two retreats earlier in the year to lay the groundwork, with Gardiner, council, and senior staff discussing both priorities and how we’d like to go about developing a budget, Sandel said.

On April 5, five-year general revenue projections were presented to the council by Thomas Himler, a consultant from Municipal Group LLC. He said that city revenues would grow only slowly, because of the current difficult economic conditions. The figures show revenue growing from $14.8 to $16.1 million from fiscal 2011 to 2015, an increase of 8.5 percent.

rather than driving to a large corporation or mall where the money will disappear,” said Williams. The currency is accepted only in Mount Rainier, Hyattsville, North Brentwood, and Brentwood, supporting the local economy.

What the currency buys ranges from instruction in languages, music, and yoga to bakery items, custom cabinetry, piano tuning, and yard work. One hour is equivalent to $10, a half-hour is equal to $5, and a quarter-hour is equal to $2.50. All businesses and individuals can determine — and change — their acceptance policies; the website, www.anacostiahours.org, advocates “an acceptance policy which brings in hours at a rate proportional to its ability to spend [them]. No one benefits if a business receives more hours than it can use and readily put back into circulation.”

Hyattsville resident Elizabeth Arnold accepts the hours in exchange for research and limited transportation, and has used them for haircuts, bike maintenance, and yoga classes. She’s even given them as gifts.

Most current members are in Mount Rainier, but Williams said the group hopes to expand in the other three towns by getting the word out this spring at community gatherings including the Hyattsville Anniversary Festival on April 24.

“I like the concept,” said Arnold, a member of the Hyattsville Environment Committee.

“There’s a lot of potential there.”

"I think this process provides information about department priorities and requests to council and the public early in the process, although the cost of [each activity] isn’t available."

— Bill Gardiner mayor of Hyattsville

During that meeting, Rainey presented projected expenditures over the same period, from $13.68 million to $15.52 million.

However, these cover operating expenses only, not capital expenditures or debt service.

At press time, the mayor was scheduled to present a more detailed financial picture with his proposed budget for the next fiscal year at the April 12 council meeting. The council will be discussing it over the next several meetings and must pass the budget by the start of the fiscal year, July 1.

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Page 10

CHICKENS

continued from page 1 of free-range, fancy chickens appeared in the neighborhood of Decatur Street and 42nd Avenue.

A home video went viral on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=pEfOb_EZ1bk), quickly attracting several hundred viewings as well as the interest of the City's Code Enforcement Department, which chased the birds for several weeks in a vain attempt to catch them and/or their owner. In the end, a local fox got them before the law did, but community interest in chicken farming has only increased over the past few years.

The topic comes up — and is passionately debated — a couple of times a year on the H.O.P.E. listserv, nearly always after a resident (or three) writes a plaintive query about why it should be against the law to have a small coop in one's backyard. A blog has taken up the cause of changing the local ordinances (see "A Chicken 'Coup' in Hyattsville" at http://preservationcreation. blogspot.com). And the memory of poultry past is kept alive on the My Hyattsville Wiki site (http://www. hyattsvillewiki.com), which as its logo features a rooster pasted over an adulterated version of the city logo art and the slogan: "Historic Houses. Free-Range Chickens. Only in Hyattsville."

In fact, barnyard animals weren't always illegal here. With the proper permits, they could join their more domesticated cousins at the family homestead. But in 2004, at the urging of the city’s Code Enforcement Advisory Committee, the city council amended the code to prohibit keeping of “livestock, domestic fowl and/or wild exotic animals.”

According to then-council presi-

Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010 dent and committee liaison Stuart Eisenberg, the ordinance was changed because of the risk that the “permitting process wasn’t being applied consistently, leading to a concern about liability due to discriminatory behavior.” Also because of “neighborhood disharmony” issues — primarily complaints made to the City by residents about conditions spawned by the chickens at their neighbors’ properties.

Since that time, the city government has generally followed a reactive enforcement strategy, according to Communications Manager Abby Sandel — responding to resident complaints rather than actively looking for chicken roosts. However, on one occasion last year, she reported, a code enforcement officer spotted a stray chicken on Hamilton Street, and he and fellow officers “apprehended the chicken” and took it to the county's animal-control office.

What’s driving the current interest in raising poultry? According to local blogger Jerry Simmons (see link cited above), “You hear about what great pets they make, but my other interest is in living green, living organically.” In addition to having a source of flower-bed fertilizer, said Simmons, he’s “really interested in having a nice, safe, organic source of eggs.”

Besides providing eggs and fertilizer, “the chickens eat grubs and other undesirable insects,” said resident Taylor Johnson. “Small chicken coops that are well maintained and cleaned frequently are not smelly or noisy,” he added.

Although the Life & Times was not able to find any residents who were willing to speak on the record about their concerns, the most common objections include noise (especially if a rooster is present), odor, birds escaping into neighbors’ yards, and

PHOTO OF SILKIE HENS PROVIDED BY OWNERS the potential to attract rats and other vermin. Summed up one resident on the HOPE listserv, “I believe this area is too urban for chickens.”

Anna (who asked not to share her last name) found a place that is definitely not too urban for poultry. She yearned for chickens so intensely that she and her family moved from Hyattsville two years ago to the top of a mountain in Appalachia so she could realize her avian ambition.

"Actually, we also had other reasons for moving," she told the Life & Times recently, "although we would definitely have raised chickens in Hyattsville had we not lived next door to a councilman who would have reported us in a heartbeat to code enforcement." (She then shot a penetrating glare at the reporter, a retired elected official.)

Anna bought her first 16 chicks for $2 apiece at a Prince George's County farm last summer, and recently added to her collection. "I was feeling really down after an unpleasant medical procedure," she explained.

"So I stopped on the way home to buy chickens, and felt much better."

Currently, Anna's poultry range freely during the day — providing a ready source of entertainment for her four young children — and at night they roost in a coop made of recycled wood pallets.

One morning Anna went into their

yard to encounter a large hawk that had eaten one of her birds and had another locked in its talons. In a mother-hen impulse, she grabbed a stick and confronted the bloodthirsty raptor. Suffice it to say that the hawk's chicken-poaching career came to an end.

With her husband having recently applied for federal positions in Washington, a move back to Prince George’s County is a possibility — but not to Hyattsville. “I’d like to own a small farm in Upper Marlboro — close enough to Hyattsville to visit friends, but where the local ordinances don’t prohibit chicken farming.”

Not everyone here flees to rural America to pursue their passion for poultry. The Life & Times learned of a few clandestine chicken farms in the city, and visited one Hyattsville Hills couple who were willing to share their story — anonymously — with the community.

In the midst of a scene of Zen perfection — well-tended garden paths, a gurgling waterfall, peaceful koi swimming in a pool, the buzzing of bees amid flowers, the gentle rustling of the tree canopy — there is a thriving chicken farm. Not just any chickens: four bantamweight Chinese Silkie hens.

These hens can’t fly, according to their owners, and it’s apparent from their barely audible cooing that they

can’t cluck much , either. They move together in a loose syncopation, gently bobbing and weaving around the garden as they forage.

“Chickens are very therapeutic animals,” said their owner. “It’s a way of getting back to a way of life we’ve gotten away from.”

The chickens roost in a coop that looks more architecturally significant than some houses in the City’s Historic District. It was custombuilt for them by a neighbor. Within its Victorian splendor are practical features such as an enclosed run, sleeping berths, feed and watering provisions, and a wire mesh bottom to prevent predators and vermin from encroaching. To maintain it, “we rake it out every once in a while,” said the other owner.

Like other chicken-keepers in municipalities with anti-livestock ordinances, the couple benefits from a sort of “don’t cluck, don’t tell” policy in their neighborhood. The owners vetted the idea before they purchased their first chicks, and now “neighbors watch them while we’re out of town,” said one.

In recent years, a number of urban and near-urban jurisdictions have loosened restrictions on keeping chickens. Baltimore and Washington both allow backyard chicken coops, with conditions. Will Hyattsville follow?

Asked whether an ordinance permitting chickens could be constructed in a way that would restrict negative neighborhood impacts of chicken-keeping while being fairly and consistently applied, Eisenberg replied: “Personally, I doubt it.”

“There are no social benefits of chicken farming,” he added.

As of yet, no elected officials have taken up the cause, but Simmons is buoyed by the positive response he's gotten from his informal community survey.

“Everyone seems to think [loosening the current law is] a fantastic idea,” he said. "When it's time, I want to make a request to the city council to change the ordinance.”

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Page 11

ST. JEROME'S

continued from page 1

center, which serves children as young as 6 weeks, would now no longer accept children younger than 2 years due to liability concerns. Later, he clarified in an interview that although no new infants would be enrolled, there were no plans to remove the ones already there.

A petition requesting that the decision be reconsidered began circulating almost immediately and had gathered, as of press time, 800 signatures.

By the following Monday, a Facebook group supporting the nuns had garnered hundreds of members, and the site organized a prayer vigil outside the school the following day, March 23. About 125 people gathered right before the school board and parish council were to meet. The crowd included alumni and their parents, former employees of the child-care center, parishioners, and some current school parents. Current staff members were asked not to attend.

In a letter to child-center families dated March 21, the center’s director, Sr. Geraldine McPhee, wrote that Stack had told them “that for financial reasons, he was not giving us jobs next year and that the Sisters were to vacate the convent by June 30.” She included documents showing that the child care center is financially healthy and has a waiting list.

The nuns belong to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, an order

PHOTO BY PAULA MINAERT More than 100 people attended a prayer vigil outside St. Jerome's School and Child Center for the nuns who work there. that has been in the parish since 1914, when they began teaching catechism there. When the school opened in 1943, the pastor invited them to staff it.

Now, only one nun is left in the school – Sr. Joyce Volpini, who was principal from 1975 to 2009, when she stepped down to become guidance counselor, a position that would be eliminated under the proposed plan. She lives in the convent next to the school with McPhee and retired teacher Sr. Janet Cahill.

Archdiocese spokesperson Susan Gibbs said that the decisions would bring the school into line with others in the diocese. “Guidance counselors are not a standard position [in Catholic schools],” she said. “And I don’t know of any other parish that runs its own day

care for infants. It’s a huge [insurance] liability,” she said.

Longtime parishioner Brendan Cain, whose three children have all attended both the center and the school, offered his opinion: “The sisters have been great for our kids, but they’ve already been scaling back. I know Father Stack well enough that I trust his judgment.”

Several people at the vigil described the nuns as family. “They’re not just nuns,” said school parent Valerie Cole. “They’re people’s godparents and confirmation sponsors.”

Others attended the vigil to show support for the infant-care program, one of very few in the area.

“We wouldn’t have come to the child center if they hadn’t had infant care,” said parishioner Gisela Westwater, a mother of four whose

youngest child began attending at six weeks along with two siblings.

“We wanted a place where [our

three children] could be together.

We looked around at some of the home-based infant care, but there was nothing like St. Jerome’s.”

A second letter from Stack, dated March 22, reaffirmed the decisions.

Then on Friday, March 26, a joint letter signed by the three nuns, Stack, and school principal Mary Pat Donoghue was released. Noting “how deeply people care about the parish, school, and child center,” the letter went on to say that “there will be no changes in the child care center or the presence of the sisters in the parish while we plan for the future.”

Now, says the pastor, “we’ve entered into a process of conversations” about the future with the nuns, the archdiocese, and parish leaders.

They’ve been asked not to discuss the situation until it is resolved.

The outcome will be transmitted in another letter, “probably by June 1,” said Stack.

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