Hyattsville Life & Times April 2010

HyattsvilleLife&Times

April 2010Hyattsville’s Community NewspaperVol. 7 No. 4

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

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

HOUR BYHOUR

APPLES FOR LOCAL TEACHERSFour Hyattsville teachers earned National Board Certifi cation, the most prestigious credential a teacher can earn. PAGE 3

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

Except. Maybe you're a yuppie who’s feeling a mid-life crisis coming on; or a crunchy type drawn to sim-pler, 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 feel-ing nostalgic for the life you left behind in your native land. In any event, in your full and otherwise satisfy-ing 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 spread-ing at least since the summer of 2006, when a clutch

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 signifi cant others/children/friends/possessions, settled into a life you can call your own.

by Chris Currie

SPRING CHICKENS?

by Sarah Nemeth

The city of Hyattsville is doing something new as it begins its bud-get process for the next fi scal year. It’s called performance-based bud-geting, which allocates resources in accordance with city objectives.

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

The departmental goals and ob-jectives are measured in terms of inputs, activities, outputs and out-comes. 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 effi ciently.

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

City tries a new way of budgeting

BUDGET continued on page 9

CHICKENS continued on page 10

Police talk safety for commutersby 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 sta-tion to her Hyattsville apartment as part of her daily commute.

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

SAFETY continued on page 9

by Susie Currie and Paula Minaert

A recent announcement of staff-ing and service changes at St. Je-rome’s School and Child Center touched off a wave of reactions, from a Facebook group to a prayer vigil, that may delay the restruc-turing.

In a letter to St. Jerome’s fami-lies on Friday, March 20, the church’s pastor, Fr. James Stack, wrote that he had arrived at the “painful decision” to “end the mis-sion of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur,” the order of nuns that has been at the school since its in-ception. He added that the child

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

ST. JEROME'S continued on page 11

Page 2 Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010

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) nonprofi t cor-poration. Interested reporters should send their e-mail addresses to the editor to be reminded of deadlines and re-ceive internal news. Articles and news submitted may be edited. The dead-line is the last week of the month for the following month’s issue. Letters to the editor and opinions are encour-aged. For all e-mail correspondence with HL&T: news, features, tips, adver-tising and business write to [email protected]. To submit ar-ticles, letters to the editor, etc. , e-mail [email protected].

Executive Editor Paula Minaert

[email protected]

Managing EditorSusie Currie

[email protected]

Editorial InternHannah Bruchman

ProductionAshley Perks

Advertising DirectorFelix Speight

[email protected]

Writers & ContributorsDaniel Hart

Victoria HilleKimberly Schmidt

Hugh Turley

Board of Directors Julia Duin - President

Chris Currie - Vice PresidentJamie Aycock - General Counsel

Paula Minaert - SecretarySusie Currie - Ex Offi cio

Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. Mail to every address in Hyattsville. Additional copies are distrib-uted to libraries, selected businesses, community centers and churches in the city. Total circulation is 7,500.

HL&T is a member of the National Newspaper Association.

FromTheEditor

MyTwoCents

by Joe Fugere

I work with fl oors and trees. My particular specialty is transforming older fl oors into ballroom-quality ones. Approximately 95 percent of my employment is here in Hyatts-ville.

I am concerned about too many restrictions being placed on the trades here in the city. Specifi cally, I’m referring to the possibility of increased restrictions on com-mercial 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 Black-berries 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 inter-connected. The wires and pipes that run in our homes refl ect the

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 neigh-borhood-ready, part of the local economy, and green times two.

•Neighborhood-ready: Hyatts-ville is a “neighborhood of ser-vices.” Residents can call night or day for services. They know who can fi x their leaky pipes or the window broken by a stray base-ball. 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 “com-mercial” service vehicle. Also, convenience is secondary to secu-rity. All the listservs say to go with

someone you know or someone your neighbor knows.

• Local economy: The pres-ence of work vehicles here refl ects 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 fi tting or painting or roof repair: our vehicles are our Blackberries! We survive — and can fl ourish — with our basic technology.

• Green times two: Locally sited vehicles offer green ben-efi ts: energy savings and smog reduction. But Hyattsville sports

another shade of green: reuse, recycle, re-create, in modest up-grades done by local craftspeople. For instance, old building materi-als, fi xtures, and appliances are replaced in a kitchen remodeling project and are then recycled to Community Forklift, where used building materials are sold at af-fordable prices. Community Fork-lift depends on craft workers to identify these salvage materials. An informal network also exists: a carpenter in one house installs classic fi xtures left over from a job done last week. Landfi ll space not fi lled: all made possible by those with commercial vehicles.

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

Hyattsville residents are blessed with an abundance of skilled arti-sans at their beck and call, who of-ten can provide services at reduced rates. This reduces anxiety for resi-dents and makes for a convivial at-mosphere 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.

No truck with vehicle restrictions

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 fi nd 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 base-ment and found that the meter showing the temperature of the wa-ter in the boiler was in the red area — about 320 degrees. So we shut it down and began the process of

One great thing about Hyattsvillereplacing 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 connec-tion? We were able to get some-one 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 be-cause 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 ma-sonry falling down our chimney and clogging a vent), and fi xed 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 dealer-ships and fast-food restaurants. Now, our lives are enriched by physicists, painters, writers, en-gineers, musicians, and so on. We have a well-respected arts com-munity that is drawing people here. We are focusing on what Maslow called the higher needs.

Hyattsville also has plumbers, elec-tricians, carpenters, car repair people, and handymen. We haven’t aban-doned 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 fi x 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.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE FUGERE

Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010 Page 3

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Dynamic Education in the Catholic Tradition

St. Jerome School

by Bart Lawrence

Two things in life are certain: death and budget cuts to educa-tion. 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 pres-tigious credential a teacher can earn” — National Board Certifi cation.

The third annual National Board Certifi ed Teachers Pinning Ceremo-ny, 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 Profes-sional Teaching Standards, an independent organization that aims to improve education by develop-ing professional teaching standards, offers a national voluntary certifi -cation system. Described by a staff member as “grueling,” achieving cer-tifi cation can take up to two years and involves many hours of study and re-fl ection on the teaching process.

But the payoffs, many agree, are signifi cant. Chapman, a reading re-source specialist, said the process made her "a more refl ective teacher who is constantly trying to improve." And Hite said that National Board

Certifi cation can “play a signifi cant role in changing the culture of our

Four area teachers earn prestigious certifi cation

From top: Teachers Laura Arkus, Stephanie Chapman, Tyra Jenkins and Heather Anglin.

school district." Hyattsville Elementary School

Principal Jeanne Washburn said her two newly pinned educators “are terrifi c teachers and we are for-tunate 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 certifi ed 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?

PHOTO BY MYLIE DURHAMDepartment 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.

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Ready for swimsuit season?

MissFloribundatrumpet, bleeding heart, lily-of-the-valley, and larkspur are also very poisonous. Though less lethal, it’s a good idea to wash your hands after handling daf-fodils, 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 philoden-drons, 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 dis-

cussion and to participate in a plant

exchange, please come to the next meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society on Satur-day, 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: hyattsvillehorti-culture.org.

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

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 At-las, who got his strength from contact with the earth. Aside from that, I find that gloves are awkward, making weed-ing 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 hap-pen, 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 scien-tifically supported reason. Re-searchers 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 “happi-ness 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 tet-anus 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 w e l l - p r o t e c t e d thorny canes have lashed me across the face savagely enough to draw blood. Less obviously ag-gressive plants can be insidi-ous and exude toxins. Joe Fox-Glover tells me that when he picks, weeds, or transplants his foxgloves he himself wears gloves. The enchanting fox-glove, which looks like the perfect home for flower fairies, has a dark side. It is an impor-tant source of digitalis, which in miniscule doses is a boon to cardiology – but in larger dos-es it’s fatal. Yankee soldiers going through Mississippi dur-ing the Civil War died after eat-ing food served on the leaves of the beautiful oleander. The ber-ries of the demure daphne will kill when ingested. Plants with gently poetic names like angel

EASTER EGGS-CITEMENT

PHOTOS BY VALERIE RUSSELLAt 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 andLORE

by Kimberly Schmidt

When the English explorer Cap-tain John Smith first sailed up the Anacostia River in 1608, he noted an area abundant in wildlife, with crystal clear wa-ters 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 19th-century fugitives, the North-west 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 sympa-thies 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 his-tory, 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

The Underground Railroad and Anacostia’s Northwest Branch

local history of our region.Washington, D.C., the southern-

most terminus of the Under-ground 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 con-centrations of blacks. We may not think of Maryland and Vir-ginia 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, Na-tive Americans helped them get to the capital, despite a 1666 treaty that required them to return slaves to their English masters. The language was un-ambiguous: “In case any Ser-vants 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 Eng-lish Plantation to be conveyed to their Masters.”

As early as 1666, mention is made of slaves escaping to Na-tive 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. Preserv-ing our heritage includes this valuable community resource, and you can help at the Anacos-tia Watershed Society’s annual cleanup on April 24 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

See www.anacostiaws.org for de-tails and L&L will see you there!

Kimberly Schmidt is the presi-dent of the Hyattsville Preserva-tion Association. Her next col-umn will focus on the Great Flood of 1955. Anyone who remembers this fl ood, a result of Hurricane Connie, is welcome to contact her at [email protected].

April 16 and 17At 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 17Prince 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 March-ing Through Time, an encampment re-enactment spanning more than 2,000 years from the Bronze Age Celts to the Gulf War. The schedule includes military drills, ven-dors, crafts, children’s activities, and more. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. $5; free for children un-der 4. Marietta House Museum, 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale. 301.464.5291.

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

April 23University 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 24With 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 featur-ing performances, concerts, demonstra-tions, sports, and more. Free. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Throughout the campus in Col-lege Park. For schedule and details, visit www.marylandday.umd.edu/.

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

Hyattsville’s 124th Anniversary Pa-rade & Festival begins with a parade of classic cars, elected officials, march-ing 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 27Come 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 Play-house, 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly. 301.277.1710.


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

CALENDAR continued on page 7

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

Hyattsville Life & Times | April 2010 Page HR1

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR

May 1The University Park Co-Op will be hosting its Annual Spring Chil-dren’s Clothing & Toy Sale, where consigners offer deals on gently worn children’s and teen’s clothing, books, sports equip-ment, maternity clothes, and toys. Cash only. Free. 10 a.m. to noon. Riverdale Presbyterian Church, 6513 Queens Chapel Road, Uni-versity Park. 301.346.3327.

May 8Come bring your son or daughter to Mother Goose Tea to drink tea and eat snacks highlighting their favorite nursery rhyme char-acters. 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 fi sh-ing 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 fi shing rod to keep. Vol-

unteers will be on hand to offer assistance. 8 to 11 a.m. $5; pre-registration required. Lake Arte-mesia, 8200 55th Avenue, Berwyn Heights. 301.627.6074.

May 9On Mother’s Day, Riversdale House Museum offers free ad-mission to moms accompanied by visitors paying the regular ad-mission 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 Riv-erdale Road, Riverdale Park. 301.864.0420.

May 11At the Hyattsville Elementary School PTA General Meeting, you can learn about volunteer op-portunities and ongoing efforts to support academic achievement. 6:30 p.m. 5311 43rd Avenue. 301.312.9170. May 13DeMatha 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

University Boulevard entrance to the University of Maryland. 301.405.2787. For tickets, contact [email protected].

May 15Do 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. Blad-ensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg. 301.779.0371.

May 16Save the date for the 31st Annu-al 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.

OngoingSpring 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.

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

The Hyattsville library offers a vari-ety of storytimes. Space is limited; free tickets available at the Chil-dren’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. English-Spanish Storytime for ages

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

Community Calendar is compiled by Hannah Bruchman and Susie Currie. It’s a select listing of events happening in and around Hyatts-ville from the 15th of the issue month to the 15th of the following month. To submit an item for con-sideration, please e-mail [email protected] or mail to P.O. Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781. Deadline for May submissions is April 23.

CALENDARcontinued from page 6

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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 investigat-ing 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 re-lating 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 pa-pers at the University of Virginia’s law library. They show discussion about whether to include the tes-timony 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 testifi ed 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 offi cial records contradicting Starr’s report: Other witnesses did not see Foster’s car, the gun found was not his, there was a bul-let hole in his neck, crime scene photographs and X-rays had dis-appeared. Knowlton provided evi-dence he was the victim of witness intimidation by Starr’s staff.

On Sept. 24, 1997, Judge Sen-telle sent his colleagues Knowl-ton’s motion to include comments and factual information as an ap-pendix 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 ques-tion alone, it would be my inclina-tion to deny the motion.”

Judge Fay disagreed with Sen-telle. “[Knowlton] does comment on specifi c fi ndings and conclu-sions in the report,” he argued. “He contradicts specifi c factual matters and takes issue with the very basics of the report fi led by the [Independent Counsel].”

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

Documents reveal judges’ deliberations on a death

That afternoon, Sentelle faxed his colleagues a message that, af-ter reviewing their memos, he had changed his mind and agreed to draft an order granting the mo-tion. So on Sept. 26, the court ordered that Knowlton’s com-ments and evidence be included in Starr’s report. On Sept. 29, Starr fi led a motion appealing the order. It was denied the next day, marking the fi rst 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 offi ce to show the reporter on the case the evidence contradicting Starr that had been ordered part of the fi nal 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 Ameri-can press has not reported on the Knowlton appendix, and the attachments did not “speak for themselves” as Butzner envi-sioned. But the press has reported the latest news about Kenneth Starr — he will become the presi-dent of Baylor University this June.


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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 re-membered 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, fea-turing the likes of Rachel Carson and Frederick Douglass instead of American presidents.

Members agree to accept the hours as at least partial payment for specifi ed 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 “fi nder’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,

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

What the currency buys ranges from in-struction in languages, music, and yoga to bakery items, custom cabinetry, piano tuning, and yard work. One hour is equiva-lent to $10, a half-hour is equal to $5, and a quarter-hour is equal to $2.50. All busi-nesses and individuals can determine — and change — their acceptance policies; the website, www.anacostiahours.org, advo-cates “an acceptance policy which brings in hours at a rate proportional to its ability to spend [them]. No one benefi ts 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.”

Minting “money”police department to educate local resi-dents about commuter safety, including an update on new policies and security mea-sures being implemented in the area.

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

“There is not too much activity from the Met-ro 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 emer-gency 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 tell-ing 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 tar-gets for theft. Enoch advises commuters who park in the garage to hide their GPS devices in-cluding the stands to guard against break-ins.

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

handing over the goods — and being as ob-servant as possible.

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

Johnson left feeling more secure about com-muting 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].”

SAFETYcontinued from page 1

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 pos-sible, walk with other people to de-crease 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 hear-ing. 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 fi nd an area with a lot of foot traffi c. 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.

Commuter Safety Tips

(Ward 5) and David Hiles (Ward 2), were absent but gave their in-put at a later date.

“I think this process provides in-formation about department prior-ities and requests to council and the public early in the process, although the cost of [each activity] isn’t avail-able,” Mayor Bill Gardiner said.

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

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 effi ciency study conducted last year by consultants TATC.

“It is a whole new process,” said Communications Manager Abi-gail Sandel. “The goal is to set pri-orities before we talk about dollar amounts. This should make it eas-ier to allocate funds, and, so far, things are going as intended.”

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 de-veloping a budget, Sandel said.

On April 5, fi ve-year general reve-nue projections were presented to the council by Thomas Himler, a consul-tant from Municipal Group LLC. He said that city revenues would grow only slowly, because of the current diffi cult economic conditions. The fi gures show revenue growing from $14.8 to $16.1 million from fi scal 2011 to 2015, an increase of 8.5 percent.

During that meeting, Rainey presented projected expendi-tures over the same period, from $13.68 million to $15.52 million. However, these cover operating expenses only, not capital expen-ditures or debt service.

At press time, the mayor was scheduled to present a more de-tailed fi nancial picture with his proposed budget for the next fi scal year at the April 12 council meet-ing. The council will be discussing it over the next several meetings and must pass the budget by the start of the fi scal year, July 1.

BUDGET continued from page 1

"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 Gardinermayor of Hyattsville


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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 defi nitely not too urban for poultry. She yearned for chickens so intensely that she and her fam-ily 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 rea-sons for moving," she told the Life & Times recently, "although we would defi nitely 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 offi cial.)

Anna bought her fi rst 16 chicks for $2 apiece at a Prince George's Coun-ty farm last summer, and recently added to her collection. "I was feel-ing 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 blood-thirsty raptor. Suffi ce 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 Marl-boro — close enough to Hyattsville to visit friends, but where the local ordinances don’t prohibit chicken farming.”

Not everyone here fl ees 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 Hyatts-ville Hills couple who were will-ing to share their story — anony-mously — 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 buzz-ing of bees amid fl owers, 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 fl y, 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 ani-mals,” 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 signifi -cant than some houses in the City’s Historic District. It was custom-built 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 benefi ts from a sort of “don’t cluck, don’t tell” policy in their neighborhood. The owners vetted the idea before they purchased their fi rst chicks, and now “neighbors watch them while we’re out of town,” said one.

In recent years, a number of ur-ban 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 con-structed 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 benefi ts of chicken farming,” he added.

As of yet, no elected offi cials have taken up the cause, but Simmons is buoyed by the positive response he's gotten from his informal commu-nity survey.

“Everyone seems to think [loosen-ing 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.”

of free-range, fancy chickens ap-peared in the neighborhood of Decatur Street and 42nd Avenue. A home video went viral on You-Tube (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 pas-sionately 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 back-yard. A blog has taken up the cause of changing the local ordinances (see "A Chicken 'Coup' in Hyatts-ville" 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 urg-ing of the city’s Code Enforcement Advisory Committee, the city coun-cil amended the code to prohibit keeping of “livestock, domestic fowl and/or wild exotic animals.”

According to then-council presi-

dent and committee liaison Stu-art Eisenberg, the ordinance was changed because of the risk that the “permitting process wasn’t being ap-plied consistently, leading to a con-cern about liability due to discrimi-natory 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 govern-ment has generally followed a reac-tive enforcement strategy, according to Communications Manager Abby Sandel — responding to resident complaints rather than actively look-ing for chicken roosts. However, on one occasion last year, she reported, a code enforcement offi cer spotted a stray chicken on Hamilton Street, and he and fellow offi cers “appre-hended the chicken” and took it to the county's animal-control offi ce.

What’s driving the current inter-est 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 fl ower-bed fertilizer, said Simmons, he’s “really interested in having a nice, safe, organic source of eggs.”

Besides providing eggs and fertiliz-er, “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 fi nd 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

CHICKENScontinued from page 1

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center, which serves children as young as 6 weeks, would now no longer accept children young-er than 2 years due to liability concerns. Later, he clarifi ed 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 mem-bers were asked not to attend.

In a letter to child-center fami-lies dated March 21, the center’s director, Sr. Geraldine McPhee, wrote that Stack had told them “that for fi nancial 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 fi nancially healthy and has a waiting list.

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

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 pro-posed 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. “Guid-ance 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 [insur-ance] 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 scal-ing 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 confi rmation sponsors.”

Others attended the vigil to show support for the infant-care pro-gram, one of very few in the area. “We wouldn’t have come to the child center if they hadn’t had in-fant 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, reaffi rmed 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 en-tered 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 transmit-ted in another letter, “probably by June 1,” said Stack.

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PHOTO BY PAULA MINAERTMore than 100 people attended a prayer vigil outside St. Jerome's School and Child Center for the nuns who work there.


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Selling Your Home? Free Home Value Estimate!

9750 52nd Place10400 46th Ave.10301 45th Place4423 39th St.4407 34th St.4002 31st St. UNDER CONTRACT4501 30th St.4004 30th St.4305 29th St.7214 16th Ave.2208 Woodberry St.3105 Webster St.3450 Toledo Terrace4513 Romlon St.4411 Romlon St.1109 Osage St. 3817 Newark Rd.8001 Mandan Rd. UNDER CONTRACT8009 Mandan Rd.7925 Mandan Rd.2411 Lewisdale Dr. UNDER CONTRACT2611 Hughes Road7814 Hanover7810 Hanover7724 Hanover6996 Hanover8455 Greenbelt Rd.2214 Banning PlaceMD FARMS CONDO

$234, 995$149,995$119, 995$269,000$276,000$289,900$269,995$169,995$334,500$329,995$270,000$329,900$129,900

$138,800 - $155,900$135,000$265,000$249,000$165,000$109,995$159,995$229,900$215,000$149,900$175,000$169,995$149,900$142,000$249,000

$144,900 - 235,000

CURRENTLY LISTED WITH LARRY:

Realtor ®

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