MAKING VEGGIES GO DOWN SMOOTHLY
BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY
CITY COUNCIL OPPOSES CAR WASH
Bicycle powered blender among attractions at ECO City Farm Celebration. PAGE 11
City police raise money for Special Olympics, join firefighters to support Sonny Frazier Toy Drive. PAGES 3 AND 4
Zoning prohibits it, but the District Council could grant an exception to add it to gas station. PAGE 6
Trolley Trail will connect Hyattsville, Riverdale Park by Susan Hines
Despite the sudden chill in the air, the mood at the October 23 groundbreaking for the long awaited Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail was one of warmth and mutual triumph. Converting a former streetcar right-of-way that extends from the District to Laurel into a paved pedestrian and bicycle path had become something of a Holy Grail for many in the crowd — citizens, agents of Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), and elected officials alike. A segment of the paved bicycle and pedestrian path from Albion Street to Greenbelt Road has existed in College Park for several years. Bike lanes have been added to Rhode Island Ave. in College Park providing access from Route 193 to Lackawanna Street. Until recently, Hyattsville and Riverdale Park were unable to take advantage of the former trolley right-of-way. That changed when Arts District developers paved a quarter-mile section of trail behind the Palette Apartments. Funded by M-NCPPC, this project will extend that trail
Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 10 No. 11
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
November 2013
Armed robber counts three students among his victims $25,000 reward is offered by Max Bennett
Prince George’s County Police have released a sketch of the man suspected in a recent series of
sexual assaults and robberies in the woods behind Northwestern High School. The pair of Oct. 29 attacks left two women sexually assaulted and robbed at gunpoint
with three men robbed as well. At about 1:15 p.m., a man approached two females on the 6700 block of Belcrest Road in Hyattsville, police said. The man pulled a handgun out and forced the women into a
nearby wooded area where he robbed both and sexually assaulted one of the women, police said. The suspect ran away after apparently becoming startled. CRIME continued on page 13
Eco goats clear ground, spread cheer by Rosanna Landis Weaver
Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID EASTON MD PERMIT NO. 43
TRAIL continued on page 12
ROSANNA LANDIS WEAVER Local kids do good work.
By Nov. 8, the day Brian Knox came to pick up his herd of approximately 30 goats, the plot of land off Nicholson Street could have been used to illustrate the word “denuded” in the dictionary. True to their billing, the goats had cleared all the invasive species, earning their title as “environmentally friendly vegetation control.” The goats, hired by the Anacostia Watershed Society, had arrived Nov. 1 to clear a total of 1.5 acres of kudzu and other invasive weeds off an area by the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia river, not far from Ager Road. As is true at every job managed by Knox, supervising forester for Eco Goats, a security guard was hired to keep watch over the flock by night. Knox says when calling security firms to get quotes the job he often has a hard time explaining what will be involved. While the use of goats to address vegetation has become GOATS continued on page 12
Included: The November 13, 2013 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section