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.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tysons Corner Rainstorm
I shot this series of photos within a fifteen minute span this afternoon from my office window near Tysons Corner, Virginia. I guess my office is officially in a far corner of McLean, but I'm only a hop, skip and a jump away from shopping mall hell.
The USA Today building can be found at end of the rainbow despite a recent downgrade of Gannett by Wells Fargo.
The dark clouds start to leave as quickly as they came.
The sun's back out.
Cool clouds can be seen as the storm rolls away.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tales from Election Day
The City of Bowie elections were held yesterday, and all incumbents kept their seats. Full results can be seen here on the City of Bowie web site.
Supporters for Geraldine Valentino-Smith and Pete Mellits greet motorists on Kenhill Drive near Bowie City Hall.
Campaign signs cover the lawn in front of Bowie City Hall. City Hall hosted one of two District 2 polling locations. The most contentious race this year was between incumbent Diane Polangin and Pete Mellits for the District 2 council seat.
District 2 Councilwoman Diane Polangin, At-Large Councilman Dennis Brady and Bowie Mayor G. Fred Robinson greet voters outside Bowie City Hall on election day.
My wife campaigned for Mayor Robinson and Councilman Brady at one of the polling locations, and she came home with a few interesting stories.
At some point in the afternoon, a man wearing a Berwyn Rod & Gun Club hat walked toward my wife. My wife said something like, "Fred Robinson and Dennis Brady have done a great job for the City of Bowie, and they would sure appreciate your support." A Geraldine Valentino-Smith supporter made a similar remark. The man turned to the group of people and said, "how do your candidates feel about the second amendment?" The Valentino-Smith supporters said, "which one is the second amendment?" The man made a sound like a buzzer on a game show, and he said, "wrong answer!"
At this point, my wife should have said, "as a matter of fact, Mayor Robinson's nickname is Sniper, and Dennis Brady likes to show off his AK-47 at city council meetings." But honesty got the best of her, and she instead tried to explain that second amendment matters aren't addressed at the city level because all of the time is spent allocating funds to fix pot holes and improve lacrosse fields.
"Well, I think that they should at least teach gun safety in the schools," the man replied. The conversation was over before my wife could explain that the schools were controlled by the county.
Later in the day, a car parked near my wife, and an older woman got out. Several dogs were in the car, and they were all barking. My wife greeted the woman with her standard Robinson and Brady promotion, but then she added, "Dennis Brady loves dogs too!" And she handed the woman a brochure like the following.
The woman took a moment to look at the picture, and she said, "Awwwww, are these sheep dogs? So beautiful!" Perhaps quick thinking on my wife's part helped earn Councilman Brady an extra vote.
Dennis Brady is a known dog lover, and he considers the Bowie Dog Park to be one of his important accomplishments while serving on the Bowie City Council. Dennis and his wife Kathy have two Old English Sheep Dogs that are their "kids," and the dogs accompanied the Bradys in this year's Bowie Memorial Day Parade.
Supporters for Geraldine Valentino-Smith and Pete Mellits greet motorists on Kenhill Drive near Bowie City Hall.
Campaign signs cover the lawn in front of Bowie City Hall. City Hall hosted one of two District 2 polling locations. The most contentious race this year was between incumbent Diane Polangin and Pete Mellits for the District 2 council seat.
District 2 Councilwoman Diane Polangin, At-Large Councilman Dennis Brady and Bowie Mayor G. Fred Robinson greet voters outside Bowie City Hall on election day.
My wife campaigned for Mayor Robinson and Councilman Brady at one of the polling locations, and she came home with a few interesting stories.
At some point in the afternoon, a man wearing a Berwyn Rod & Gun Club hat walked toward my wife. My wife said something like, "Fred Robinson and Dennis Brady have done a great job for the City of Bowie, and they would sure appreciate your support." A Geraldine Valentino-Smith supporter made a similar remark. The man turned to the group of people and said, "how do your candidates feel about the second amendment?" The Valentino-Smith supporters said, "which one is the second amendment?" The man made a sound like a buzzer on a game show, and he said, "wrong answer!"
At this point, my wife should have said, "as a matter of fact, Mayor Robinson's nickname is Sniper, and Dennis Brady likes to show off his AK-47 at city council meetings." But honesty got the best of her, and she instead tried to explain that second amendment matters aren't addressed at the city level because all of the time is spent allocating funds to fix pot holes and improve lacrosse fields.
"Well, I think that they should at least teach gun safety in the schools," the man replied. The conversation was over before my wife could explain that the schools were controlled by the county.
Later in the day, a car parked near my wife, and an older woman got out. Several dogs were in the car, and they were all barking. My wife greeted the woman with her standard Robinson and Brady promotion, but then she added, "Dennis Brady loves dogs too!" And she handed the woman a brochure like the following.
The woman took a moment to look at the picture, and she said, "Awwwww, are these sheep dogs? So beautiful!" Perhaps quick thinking on my wife's part helped earn Councilman Brady an extra vote.
Dennis Brady is a known dog lover, and he considers the Bowie Dog Park to be one of his important accomplishments while serving on the Bowie City Council. Dennis and his wife Kathy have two Old English Sheep Dogs that are their "kids," and the dogs accompanied the Bradys in this year's Bowie Memorial Day Parade.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween in Boo-eee
This house in Bowie's Tulip Grove neighborhood features a moving ghost on a runner. In December, Santa and his sleigh will be moving through this yard.
This house on Cherrywood Lane in Bowie's Chapel Forge neighborhood features a graveyard scene each Halloween.
A close-up of the graveyard on Cherrywood Lane.
Another house in the Chapel Forge neighborhood.
Bowie Plaza hasn't been this busy since Giant left. The Spirit Halloween store was crowded all week. I peeked in Saturday before dark, and there were more than forty people waiting in line at the registers. A sign in the window advertises a 50% off sale on November 1.
This scene was not actually in B00-eee. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore hosted several Halloween related events on Saturday, October 24. This was the pumpkin smash with the adult elephants. The pumpkin smash with the young elephants took place earlier in the day, and a great picture of that event was published in many U.S. papers and the Telegraph in the U.K.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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.
Click here for more information.
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.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Head in the Clouds
You can accuse me of having my head in the clouds. Here are some recent pictures of clouds in Prince George's County near Bowie.
I found these clouds near Metzerott Road by the College Park Woods neighborhood.
Another view from Metzerrot Road near the University of Maryland.
Sunrise near Largo, Maryland.
Another morning picture from Largo.
I don't recall where I took this picture, but it reminded me of the beginning of the Simpsons. At least I thought so when I took the picture, but now that I compare it to the videos on YouTube, they're a little bit different. Check out this video of real life vs cartoon Simpsons side-by-side.
Late afternoon clouds in Laurel, Maryland. The clouds formed a straight edge.
Morning clouds with tails in Lanham.
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