Schools Open in Prince George's County

Schools opened in Prince George's County on Wednesday. It was the kids' first day back to school since Friday, February 5th.

Two school buses got stuck in the snow on Wednesday, including a bus bound for Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie that was delayed for 45 minutes. Read the details in this Washington Post article.

It appears that City of Bowie crews have been busy clearing snow and widening streets near the Whitehall Elementary School. This equipment was seen in action near the school in the Whitehall neighborhood.

No School Tuesday

Prince George's County Schools announced late this afternoon that schools will be closed again on Tuesday despite the fact that some parents received robo-calls on Sunday announcing that students were expected back on Tuesday.

The parking lots at Whitehall and Rockledge elementary schools in Bowie were finally cleared today, but the grounds still aren't in good enough shape for students to return. The sidewalks leading to Whitehall Elementary School and the path from Old Chapel Road remain covered in snow, and the sidewalk around the bus loop has only been partially cleared.

The road leading to Whitehall Elementary School (seen in the picture above) was cleared on Sunday, and the bus loop and parking lot were cleared today. Some people reported that the plows could not handle the frozen snow Sunday that had been sitting for more than a week, and a backhoe was brought in on Monday to handle the job.

Woodhaven Lane is clogged with Whitehall Elementary School car-line traffic on a good day. There's no doubt that drop-off and pick-up times will be a mess when Prince George's County Schools finally open.

The Snowstorm Chronicles - The Aftermath

I gave yesterday's blog post a title of The Snowstorm Chronicles - The End. That was 50% wishful thinking on my part and 50% being afraid of going overboard on the snowstorm coverage. However, the story continues.

Most people went back to work Friday, but the roads still weren't in good shape. People had miserable commutes going to and from work. Many side streets are just wide enough for one car, and State roads continue to suffer from missing lanes and disappearing lanes. Travel on the highways is generally good, although I did get stuck in traffic Friday morning when the right lane of the Inner Loop of the Beltway in Virginia disappeared for about a mile near Route 50.

The Bowie Walmart was closed sometime Friday after the County declared the building unsafe due to possible structural problems with the roof. There were reports of the roof sagging due to the heavy snow. The store was still closed as of 1:30pm on Saturday the 13th. I overheard a rumor that the roof collapsed, but people were working inside the building Saturday afternoon, and I saw no evidence of a collapse.



The following Twitter tweets were published by Mark Brady, Public Information Officer for Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department on his Twitter page:

Friday, February 12th

• 1:10pm: Bowie Wal-Mart evacuated while PGFD checks on a sagging roof.
• 1:26pm: Bowie Wal-Mart is purely precautionary. No imminent danger of roof collapse. Purely precautionary.
• 1:32pm: Bowie Wal Mart has a water leak issue - no collapse issues at this time. PGFD units are going home - shopping to resume shortly.
• 7:16pm: Bowie and Capital Plaza Wal-Marts experience roof problems due to snow overload. Call before you go Saturday to make sure they are open

UPDATE: Walmart open on February 14th

Sign posted on one of the doors at the Bowie Walmart.

The Best Buy in Bowie remained open Saturday while a crew cleared snow from the roof.

A worker removes snow from the roof of the Best Buy in Bowie.

Route 450 West at Route 193 on Saturday morning. The right lane is not plowed.

Old Route 450 between Church Road and Route 197 on Saturday morning. The right lane is only half plowed.

Crews work to open more lanes of traffic at the intersection of Route 197, Kenhill Drive and Loudon Lane.

Traffic creeps along Route 197 South approaching Mitchellville Road due to snow clogged lanes and a malfunctioning traffic light. Drivers waiting to turn left onto Mitchellville Road weren't getting a green light Saturday afternoon.

A Prince George's County plow clears snow in the Woodmore North neighborhood Saturday morning.

A plow removes snow from the parking lot at Benjamin Tasker Middle School Friday morning. Kenilworth Elementary School and Benjamin Tasker Middle School were cleared of snow by Friday afternoon. The parking lot at Whitehall Elementary School remained snow covered Saturday morning.

The Allotta family staged this "accident scene" at their home on Stoneybrook Drive. That's Allotta fun!

The Snowstorm Chronicles - The End

Although there is a chance for additional snowfall next week, we seem to be over with the big snowstorms in Bowie - for now. I hear a lot of people talk about the blizzards that hit Bowie this season, but I think technically the last storm was the only snowstorm that can be considered a blizzard. Schools have been closed all week, and the Federal government was closed for an unprecedented four days.

I can't believe that we didn't lose power during the blizzard, and I think kudos should be given to BGE and all involved in the Bowie Electric Reliability Action Plan (BERAP).

The blowing and drifting snow made it tough to take an accurate measurement of the snow from the blizzard . This measurement of 8 inches seemed to be the average.

Our street was continuously plowed throughout the last storm, and we woke up Thursday morning with a clear street.

Many residential streets in Bowie were down to bare pavement after a day in the sun. Pictured here is Woodhaven Lane.

Some residential streets in Bowie could be better. This is a picture from Kitmore Lane.

Some sections of Belair Drive could use a little more work. Birds are using this slushy puddle as a birdbath. The section between Annapolis Road and Kenhill Drive was in rough shape.

Kenhill Drive is in great shape.

Visibility at some intersections is blocked by snowbanks. Here is the view looking right on Old Chapel Road from Woodhaven Lane.

The condition of County roads in Bowie was much better from their pre-blizzard state. Old Chapel Road was down to bare pavement in most spots, with an occasional spot of snow.

State roads in Bowie seem to be down to bare pavement as well, but you still have to be careful of the disappearing lane syndrome. You can see in this photo on Route 450 East that the right lane suddenly disappears in front of the library.

I took this "baseline" shot of the picnic table in our backyard around 5:00pm Friday evening, February 5th - before the last two storms.

And here is the picture of our picnic table after the most recent storm. A total of 33.5 inches of snow fell in the six days between the the time that I took the first and last photos.

The Snowstorm Chronicles - Unplowed Roads Commentary

I was listening to WTOP on my way into work this morning, and a woman from Bowie's Sherwood Manor neighborhood called in. She said that her neighborhood streets had still not been plowed as of Tuesday morning, and she had to walk through high snow to get out to meet a friend. She contacted the City of Bowie about the condition of her street, and the City "pointed the finger" at Prince George's County. She called the County, and a rude person on the other end of the phone hung up on her. She felt frustrated and helpless. It had been about 65 hours since the snow stopped falling in Bowie, and her street was still not plowed.

I felt bad for the caller, but I was confused by the negative tone that she took regarding the response by the City of Bowie. Sherwood Manor is not within the City of Bowie municipal limits. The residents do not vote in City of Bowie elections, and they do not pay the extra taxes that City of Bowie residents pay for City of Bowie services. Although the caller implied that the City was shirking a responsibility, the City properly informed the woman that Prince George's County is responsible for clearing the snow from her street. I'm not sure what else she expected the City to do.

The City published an alert on its Web site Monday morning that included the following text:

Plowing services are only provided to those residents who live within the municipal limits of Bowie. Neighborhoods such as Fairwood, Camelot and Sherwood Manor are not in the City limits. Your services are provided by Prince George's County. You can reach them at 301-350-0500 or email custsvcs@co.pg.md.us

A short time later, WTOP followed up that story by interviewing Susan Hubbard, the Public Information Officer for the Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation. I was really turned off by the interview, and I thought it was a terrible public relations effort.

Local government must practice a delicate balancing act during weather emergencies. The reality is that there may be thousands of "squeaky wheels" wanting to be greased, but operations can't be redirected every time a citizen calls with a complaint or a request. On the other hand, feedback from the public must be taken seriously, and the people need to know that the government respects them and is working toward a resolution to their problems.

By coming on WTOP, Hubbard's goals should have been to show that she understood the issues facing the snowbound residents, set expectations for when roads would be cleared and provide some transparency into the effort the County is making to clear the streets so that the public could be assured that progress was being made. It was an opportunity for her to reach out to some Prince George's County residents and to possibly reduce the call volume on the Department of Public Works and Transportation hotline.

One of the WTOP interviewer first asked Hubbard how Prince George's County's snow removal efforts were coming along. She replied that the crews were doing a "phenomenal job". If her goal was to connect with the people who couldn't get out of their driveways and people that were concerned about the treacherous conditions on Race Track Road, phenomenal was not the word to use. It is true that the snowplowing crews should be given praise for their long hours and huge efforts, but I thought Hubbard lost credibility with the people that knew that the driving condition on the County roads truly sucked.

Later in the interview, Hubbard said that there is no need to let the County know about streets that aren't plowed. She said that the County already knows which streets are plowed and which streets aren't plowed. In other words, please stop bothering the County with your calls. I suppose it's impossible for the over-tired plow operators to lose track or make a mistake. Contrast Hubbard's statement with the following excerpt from a City of Bowie alert released last Sunday.

Throughout the storm we have had city officials out assessing the progress and directing crews to problem areas or to streets that have not seen a plow since Friday night. We will continue to do that, but you can help us by letting us know of areas that have not been plowed.

Please email snow@cityofbowie.org. You can just put your street name and "not plowed" in the subject line. Feel free to add other details in the body of the message.

Given the record amounts of snow that fell from the sky in Bowie and Prince George's County over the last week, it's reasonable to expect that the road conditions will be bad until at least next week. It's also reasonable to expect local government that works with you.

Old Chapel Road on Tuesday morning. The snow cover left by the plows has been packed down by traffic. It's extremely bumpy, and traffic is forced to go slow.

The Snowstorm Chronicles - Monday Morning on the Roads

I got my car back on the road Monday morning to run some errands and to possibly head to work in Tysons Corner. I found State and County roads to be the in the worst condition, and City of Bowie roads to be in the best condition. I was surprised to see the state of Laurel Bowie Road (Rt 197) and Old Chapel Road. I assumed that the major roads would be in the best shape, but that's not what I saw. I've heard that a lot of the county and state roads are plowed by contractors, and if they aren't properly supervised, some of them will not put their plows all the way down for fear of damaging their equipment. I captured a picture showing a contractor on Route 197 without his plow down during the the January 30th storm. Click here to see that post.

Laurel Bowie Road (Route 197) Near the Post Office

Old Chapel Road near Whitehall Elementary School

Woodhaven Lane, a residential street in Bowie, is plowed down to the pavement.

There is still a lot of plowing to do at Bowie Plaza. This Bobcat wasn't running when I saw it.

The Free State Shopping Center parking lot was in great shape, but the mounds of snow took up quite a few parking spots.

The Sunoco parking lot at the corner of Old Chapel Road and Laurel Bowie Road could be in better shape. Notice the snow on Old Chapel Road at the bottom of the picture.

Our street appears to be in the worst condition of all of the residential streets that I saw. Hopefully the City will take care of this today.

Art in Public Places

The Prince George's County Council passed legislation in 1988 that requires one percent of the construction cost for new buildings and major renovations of county government buildings be used for the acquisition and installation of artwork. The legislation established the Art in Public Places Program. A seven member panel oversees the program, and a project advisory committee is established for each project.

The Arts in Public Places Panel and a project advisory committee began a search last October for an artist to create a 12' x 18' piece for the future South Bowie Branch Library. One-hundred forty-seven applications were received, and three finalists have been selected.

• Carol Adams (Peninsula, OH)
• Dayton Claudio (Chico, CA)
• Roger Stoller (Portola Valley, CA)

A community input meeting will be held at the South Bowie Community Center on Tuesday, January 19th. Members of the public will be able to learn about the project, meet the finalists and provide the artists with information about the community. Opinions are welcome. Attendees must RSVP by Friday, January 15th.

The three artists will create designs for the project, and one of the designs will be selected in March.

The Prince George's County Arts in Public Places Panel commissioned a stained glass and tile mirror mosaic for the recently opened Northview Fire Station in Bowie. Cheryl Foster , a D.C. resident, was the lead artist for the project. Foster designed and oversaw the installation of the mural.

The mosaic can be seen at the front of the Northview Fire Station (at the corner of Northview Drive and Health Center Drive). The diversity of Bowie residents is captured in the faces of the firefighters, and the background is filled with historic references and reflections of modern day life in Bowie.

Bowie Station opened in 1872 in what is now called the Huntington Section of Bowie (also known as Old Bowie). The railroad station was constructed at the intersection of a Baltimore/D.C. line and the Pope's Creek line to Southern Maryland.

Bowie Station has been relocated only yards away from its original location, and it has been preserved as the Bowie Train Station Museum.

The Belair Stud and Stable. Two Triple Crown winners (father and son Gallant Fox and Omaha) called the stable home, as did Nashua, the first horse to be sold for more than $1 million. The stable is now a museum operated by the City of Bowie.

This is either Gallant Fox or Omaha. It's hard to tell. They look so much alike, and they're both represented on the mural.

The Bulldog is the mascot for Bowie State University, Bowie High School and the Bowie Boys and Girls Club.

Skating at the City of Bowie Ice Arena at Allen Pond Park.

The City of Bowie Dog Park.

Bowie fourth-grader Hayley Yeager is depicted in the mosaic. According to a recent Bowie Blade article, Foster had an artistic connection with Yeager.

Plaque on display at the fire station. Several people from the Bowie Senior Center assisted with the installation of the glass tiles.

Cheryl Foster created other public pieces in the D.C. area, including this mosaic at National Harbor. Other work from Foster can be seen on her Web site.

Another Foster piece at National Harbor.

Bowie Briefs - v4

Audrey Scott
The Maryland Republican Party overwhelmingly selected former Bowie Mayor Audrey Scott as their new party chairwoman at a convention held Saturday in Bowie at the Comfort Inn Conference Center. Rumor has it that party faithfuls were impressed by the many elephant trinkets that Scott has on display in the Republican safe haven that she calls home. The elephants were featured in an Audrey Scott promotional video on YouTube. Scott's colorful opponent, Daniel "the Whig Man" Vovak, posted his own promotional video featuring inspirational music from the movie Rocky. An unidentified source claims that after the loss, Vovak was seen on the steps of the conference center yelling, "Adrian!"

Despite big party financial problems and claims by some that the Republicans are having trouble finding talented candidates for 2010, the Maryland GOP displayed optimism at Saturday's event.

Read more details about the convention in this Baltimore Sun article. The Sun describes Chairwoman Scott as "spunky."

Maryland Democratic Party Chairwoman Susan Turnbull issued a "bring it on" style congratulations to Scott shortly after the convention. Turnbull's statement can be read here on Maryland Politics Watch.



Bowie Police Department Plans Icy Water Dip for Charity
Members of the Bowie Police Department plan on participating in the 14th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise money for Maryland Special Olympics. The department's team will be dipping into the icy Chesapeake Bay waters at Sandy Point State Park on January 30, 2010. Click here to make a donation or to track the team's fund raising progress. They are still looking for donations and additional team members. According to the team's page, Bowie Councilwoman Diane Polangin will also be taking the plunge.

Lt. Richard Wohkittle, Chief Katherine Perez and Deputy Chief John Nesky pose in the water for a promotional picture for the fundraiser.

Arrest of Chief Perez Imminent
Bowie Police Chief Katherine Perez will be locked up as part of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's annual Lock Up Event on Tuesday, November 17. Click here to make a donation or track the Chief's progress. She still has $2,000 to raise by Tuesday!



Bowie Health Center Temporarily Open Around the Clock
The Bowie Health Center is temporarily open 24 hours a day to accommodate a spike in the number of patients seeking treatment. The average number of patients has jumped 74%, and most patients are reporting flu like symptoms. Read more details in this Gazette article.



Schools to Continue use of SchoolMax
The Prince George's County Public Schools have decided to stick with the troubled SchoolMax computer system despite well publicized scheduling problems at the beginning of the school year. Many of the problems with the software have been resolved, and switching to a new software package would be very costly. Read more details in this Washington Post article.

Bowie Briefs - v3

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Bowie Residents in the News.
First - the bad and the ugly. The Prince George's States Attorney's Office announced that Jerome Engle of Bowie, a former Riverdale Volunteer Firefighter, was indicted on arson charges for his part in setting fire to a vacant home in Riverdale in March, 2008. Rumor has it that Engle was still wearing his Halloween costume when arrested.

On the good side of things, David Ramadhani, a Bowie resident and FedEx driver, is one of two people credited with saving the life of an accident victim in Oxon Hill after her vehicle became engulfed in flames from a gasoline fueled fire. According to a Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department press release, Ramadhani used the first extinguisher from his FedEx truck to slow the fire enough to allow him and another good Samaritan to free the occupant from the car. One of the rescuers used a utility knife to cut the victim's seat belt. Fed Ex: when you absolutely, positively have to get out of your burning car. Great job David Ramadhani!

There was also a report last week of two unnamed Bowie residents helping to rescue their neighbor when he became trapped under his van.

By my calculations, that's three good Bowie residents for each bad one. Go Bowie!


Audrey Scott
I previously posted here and here about former Bowie Mayor Audrey Scott's run for the Maryland GOP chair. Scott is one step closer to the position now that one of her opponents, Chris Cavey, has dropped out of the running. However, some Republicans are finding irony in Scott's pledge to bring unity to the Maryland GOP because her son, former Bowie resident Lawrence Scott, has divided the party with the strategies he deployed while working on several Republican primary contests. See this post on the Red Maryland blog for more juicy details. The Maryland GOP Chairperson will be selected later this month.


Gerron Levi
Gerron Levi, one of two Maryland House of Delegate members representing most of Bowie in legislative district 23A, has announced that she is running for Prince George's County Executive in 2010. Adam Pagnucco at Maryland Politics Watch sees one scenario where this freshman Delegate could win the election.

Regional Bus Service Names Reflect Communities

Several area counties have their own bus services to supplement the D.C. area Metrobus service. The names of these services reflect the personalities of the communities that they serve.



Fairfax County has the Fairfax Connector. The word "connector" has an engineering feel to it, like gear or cog - perhaps reflecting the high tech personality of Northern Virginia. You can imagine a commuter saying something like, "I have to work late in my database administration job tonight in Tysons to help with a disaster recovery test. Thanks goodness the Connector is running to facilitate my trip home."




Montgomery County residents have Ride-On - a progressive and hip sounding bus line that has its own passenger bill of rights and responsibilities and free service on code red ozone action days. You can imagine a Montgomery County commuter saying something like, "what a beautiful day. The sun is shining. The birds are singing, and I'm so fortunate that I can Ride-On to work at my non-profit job and reduce my carbon footprint."




In Prince George's County, we like things nice and simple. We don't care about the official name of the bus service because we're just going to call it "the bus" anyway. So it just makes sense to call it The Bus.

Bowie Briefs - v2

Audrey Scott
I recently wrote about former Bowie Mayor Audrey Scott vying to be the chairwoman of the Maryland Republican Party. She posted the following campaign video last week to tout her credentials for the job. This is definitely an interesting use of the Internet for an old school politician like Audrey. I love the intro music and the description of her house full of elephant trinkets as a "Republican safe haven." No donkeys in that house!

Northview Fire Station
The Northview Fire Station recently opened in Bowie on the corner of Northview Drive and Health Center Drive. According to a Gazette article, this station will be staffed better than most area fire stations.



I snapped the following picture a couple of weeks before the station was operational. An electrician was working on the lights for the station's stained glass tile and mirror mosaic depicting a very happy and diverse workforce.

The mosaic was designed by local artist Cheryl Foster. Right on, Cheryl! Cheryl assembled the mural with help from several volunteers, including a group of elderly assistants from the nearby Bowie Senior Center.

This photo doesn't do the piece justice. The blue circles in the background contain symbols associated with Bowie and Prince George's County. I'll have to go back to the station for a close-up.

The girl featured in the mosaic is a young Rockledge Elementary School student and artist who inspires Cheryl Foster.

You can read more about the Northview Fire Station stained glass tile and mirror mosaic in a recent article published in The Sentinel.





Seven New Police Officers for Bowie
It's a good thing that the new Bowie City Hall project has been kicked off. The Gazette recently reported that seven new police officers were sworn in during a recent City Council meeting. It would be a crime to force these new officers to work out of double-wides indefinitely. Plus the new digs for the city may give us the opportunity to have our very own call center to improve Bowie Police response times. Good times. Good times.



BGE Customers to Participate in Obama's Smart Grid Plan
Baltimore Gas & Electric will be getting $200 million in federal stimulus money to install new "smart meters" in two million customer homes as a stepping stone to having a more advanced electrical grid. BGE will be kicking in $251 million of its own money for the project.

Each new smart meter will contain a component that is mounted on the inside of a house, and a light signal will help alert customers to upcoming peak energy usage times. BGE will implement a new energy pricing model, and customers will be able to save money by reducing their energy usage during the peak usage periods.

The program is not expected to be completed until 2014.

Read this BGE press release and related Baltimore Sun article for more information.


Aggressive Tree Trimming Continues
Aggressive tree trimming continues along Maryland Route 197 in Bowie. I'm sure that there will be more unhappy residents.





Bowie City Elections Next Tuesday
Don't forget to vote. Click here for election day information from the City of Bowie web site. I pretty much want the existing team to stay in place.





Lock Up Fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy
The Bowie Baysox are hosting an event to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Donations will benefit Bowie and Crofton families. The event is described as follows on the Bowie Baysox web site.

Community and business leaders agree to be locked up "for good" and are asked to
raise bail by reaching out to family, friends, colleagues, and vendors are
asking for help raising funds for MDA. The Lock-Up will celebrate the Jailbirds’
success in raising money to help send local children to MDA Summer Camp at Camp
Maria in Leonardtown, MD. They will receive actual mug shots and a scrumptious
lunch donated by Carrabba’s Italian Grill.

Click here for more information.

Summer Vacation, Reading, Math & the Bowie Baysox

I read a recent article in the Washington Post about the effects of summer vacation on student math and reading skills. Most kids lose more than two months worth of math computational skills over the summer, and the effects on reading skills generally differ by the income level of the home.

The Bowie Baysox are working with area libraries to do their part. Sunday, July 26 is Summer Reading Night at Prince George's Stadium. The Baysox are taking on the Reading Phillies at 6:05pm. Fireworks will follow the game.

Students can earn free youth tickets to the game by participating in the 2009 Summer Reading Program through the Prince George's County Memorial Library System. Activity sheets, reading logs and suggested reading lists are available at the library, including the Bowie branch.

Students can register on-line or in person. There are still plenty of tickets available as of June 16th, but tickets and other prizes must be picked up in person at the Bowie branch. I'm not sure if tickets are available at any other branch.

Discount tickets are available for family and friends by completing a special order form. I found a similar form on line from the Baltimore County Libraries, but you can also pick up a form at the library. The following information was also provided on the form:

Pre-game ceremony to honor all kids who participated in the Summer Reading Program. Plan to be in the ballpark at 5:15 by the carousel on the 1st base concourse. Ceremony will begin around 5:30.