NOTHIN' BUT A BOOK THING
A BIRTHDAY fOR THE AGES
SLEEPING INNER BEAUTY
Editor Sarah Nemeth visits Baltimore's The Book Thing PAGE 2
Former Hyattsville resident visits her old house and gets a birthday surprise. PAGE 3
Cassie Johnson lists five easy ways to be happy. The best part? It involves naps. PAGE 5
An ongoing traffic study of Hyattsville’s streets has surfaced some resident dissatisfaction over methods of slowing down traffic. “Traffic circles, speed humps, raised intersections, [and] chokers are not traffic calming devices, they’re traffic infuriating devices,” said David Marshall of 37th Avenue. “People speed from one hump to the next, worse than they would normally.” Marshall also expressed concern about emergency vehicles not being able to negotiate speed humps in a timely manner. “If you’re having a heart attack [and] there’re 12 humps to go over, you’ve got to slow down every time — you’re not making it to the hospital,” Marshall said. “So I would implore you to erase that from the program.” Preliminary results of the Citywide Traffic Study and Transportation Plan, were presented to council members and residents at a public meeting last month. The study is being conducted by Sabra, Wang & Associates, a Baltimore-based engineering firm that specializes in traffic engineering and transportation planning. The first phase of the study involved the collection and analy-
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Hyattsville
Vol. 6 No. 8
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
by Paula Minaert
currently attend Rosa Parks, Hyattsville, Lewisdale, Carole Highlands, and University Park elementary schools may be required to attend the new school, which will have a capacity of 790 students and serve grades pre-K through six. The earliest date that the new school could be completed is August 2012. Prince George’s County School Board members Heather Iliff (Dist. 2) and Amber Waller (at large) welcomed attendees to the meeting, which was held, according to Iliff, to have the community meet the architect, better understand the planning process, and determine the best way to continue the process with the community. The “H” shaped building will be two stories tall and will total 80,000 to 87,000 square feet -- about the size of two grocery stores. It will be designed as
A city resident has filed a civil lawsuit against two Hyattsville officials, requesting access to public records about the actions of a former Hyattsville police officer. Attorneys for Matthew J. Crouch, who was allegedly assaulted by former HPD officer Todd O. Prawdzik, said that the police department refused them access to a police report of the incident. “We had to file suit against the City of Hyattsville to get disclosure under the Maryland Public Information Act,” said Philip J. Sweitzer, Crouch’s attorney. The suit, filed July 19, names Mayor William Gardiner and Police Chief Douglas Holland as defendants and petitions for judicial review of denial of access to records. In September 2008, Crouch was involved in a dispute with Prawdzik, who was off duty at the time. The altercation left Crouch, who was taken to the hospital, with stitches and staples in his head, and he later had to return to the hospital. According to the HPD, certain requests for information legally can be denied to the families of victims. “The City of Hyattsville takes seriously any request for public information and attempts to comply fully and timely under the Maryland Public Information Act,” said HPD Spokesman Sgt. Greg Phillips. However, the city is forbidden under the Maryland Public Information Act and the Health In-
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PHOTO BY JASON AUFDEM-BRINKE The Maryland Shakespeare Festival performs "Taming of the Shrew."
Some residents unhappy with proposed new school location Pupils from five area schools could be affected by Tim Hunt Discussion about the construction of a new elementary school in Hyattsville -- a change that could affect pupils from five local schools -- brought dozens of area residents to Hyattsville Middle School last month to brainstorm about the school, which is to be located adjacent to Nicholas Orem Middle School. Representatives of the architectural firm Hord Coplan Macht, Inc. (HCM) of Baltimore presented the details of the new school building and how it will fit onto the parcel of land at 3120 Nicholson St. The land was recently purchased by Prince George‘s County Public Schools. The crowd was a mix of residents, local elected officials and employees of PGCPS, including many of the principals of the elementary and middle schools that could be affected by this new school. Children who
August 2009
Civil lawsuit filed against city officials
Shakespeare
by Dan Hart
Life&Times
in love with
Feedback on traffic study provided
Included: The August 12, 2009 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section