Nodosaur fossil in College Park

Yesterday’s news of the discovery of a baby dinosaur in the College Park perhaps added a new slogan to the the city’s official tag line – College Park – Home of Dinosaurs.

According to this Washington Post report, a local dinosaur tracker in College Park discovered the fossil of an armored dinosaur hatchling estimated to have lived 112 million years ago.

The discovery was made in 1977, but scientists at Johns Hopkins University waited until now to tell us about it. The fossil was identified as a baby nodosaur, of the family Nodosauridae — a short, plant-eating dino with both flat and spiky plates on its back.

The infant armored dinosaur, smaller than a dollar bill, apparently drowned in a flood plain not long after it hatched during the Early Cretaceous Period. Its remains were buried in sediment, fossilized and preserved in rock until 1997.

That’s when amateur fossil hunter Ray Stanford of College Park found the rock in College Park.

Last week, Stanford and Johns Hopkins University scientist David Weishampel described the fossil in an article published the Journal of Paleontology. And they gave the little dinosaur a name: Propanoplosaurus marylandicus.

Weishampel, professor of anatomy at the Hopkins School of Medicine, called the animal the youngest “nodosaur,” or armored dinosaur ever discovered, and the first hatchling of any species ever found in the eastern United States.

I drove around our area. Fortunately there hasn’t been any structural damages, I did see a number of fallen trees. I took a few pictures which I will submit tomorrow. (I’m making this post from my cell phone)

Btw, all traffic lights are out too, so please drive safe.

[Update: 8/29: Please see the pictures I took yesterday]

FEMA’s Ready.gov website offers guidance on what to do to stay safe in the event of an earthquake. Click here for more information.

Soon they were assigned with routes. “Let me take my troop to Narragansett PkWy area” – said Moira Mcguire. Moira is a member of the local AlHuda school community and brought her 4 children at the event. Other members spread out to cleanup two major nearby streets – Rhode Island Avenue, and Edgewood Road. Another group went inside the adjacent Hollywood Elementary school’s backyard.

At the end of they day, they collected some 20 bags of trash from these areas. The County’s Public Works came later to pick up these trash bags.

Earlier, while volunteers gathered at the table, a call came from Abdul Kader, the owner of the local Pizza store Pizza Roma. “I see volunteers at our parking lot, can I pitch in?“. And he did, with his popular pizza that volunteers enjoyed much at the end of the event.

Thanks to the CBE (Committee for a Better Environment) and the local groups such as the AlHuda School community who helped organize the event and made it a success.

 Exactly a year ago, I started this blog. In the first post, I tried to explain about this new venture – “I thought, I should write a little on the content of the blogs I’ll be posting in the coming days and weeks.”

That’s right, I only thought I could keep this afloat only for a few weeks – who knew it would’ve stepped into its second year?

Thanks to you - my neighbors and especially the support of my family that have kept this going – one post a day, everyday.

At times, things have been a little tough. This blog is all about this little neighborhood – not even about this small college town. This often made getting a daily blog topic a little challenging task me. Fortunately, something was always going on even in this small part of the town - and I could always find neighbors wanting to talk about those topics. It has always been fun to discuss things that they find useful.

But the most challenging part I found was finding time to write. Blogging isn’t my full-time job, I don’t get paid for writing this blog (most bloggers don’t – so no surprise there). Nor do I have an army of reporters who comb through the neighborhood and write stories for me. I’ve a day job, a part time teaching job, both are fairly demanding, not to mention the essential quality time I (must) spend with my family at home. Fortunately, my family is kind enough to lend some of their precious time and on top of that I get about an hour during my Metro commute to work (I always take my laptop with me). That should probably explain the secret of my little tme management about this blog project.

This blog has helped me to stay in touch with you and our neighborhood on a constant basis. I hope to continue that in coming days, weeks, and (yes) may be years!!

Please stay in touch!

Bloggers log off, team up to connect neighbors
By Joseph Smith

Last fall, in a post on my (now defunct) neighborhood blog, I criticized the College Park City Council for its decision to pull the funding for the Taste of College Park.

Like other “Taste of” events across the nation, the TOCP encouraged residents to get off their couches and make the trip downtown, enjoy the fare of local restaurants, peruse the wares of local merchants and enjoy a beer, all within the shadow of our modest city hall.

“We want the people of College Park to come together, don’t we?” I rhetorically asked. “Well, nothing brings folks together like food. So why not hold another TOCP? Or better yet, a cultural festival or similar event that would bring folks from the various communities within College Park together for some food, entertainment, (folk) art, and maybe even some fun.”

As the snarky tone of that excerpt implies, I saw the TOCP as a means to an end. Sure, it was a nice event, but it was also a potential solution to a larger, more significant problem than the reallocation of public funds.

A few weeks before writing that post, I had attended a meeting of my civic association, and, as I sat in the uncomfortable metal chairs, I heard a few attendees make disparaging comments about the immigrant and religious communities that recently had established themselves in the neighborhood. I couldn’t believe my ears.

To improve community relations, I thought, the city should hold an event that encouraged its diverse communities to mix and mingle, and the best way to spread that idea was to ask the readers of my blog to lobby the council and have the TOCP’s funding restored.

Around the same time, Fazlul Kabir, a local activist and member of the city’s Muslim community, was writing on his blog about how “communication gaps between different communities” were among the city’s problems. A possible remedy, he proposed, was “getting ethnic communities more involved in civic activities.”

“Over the past several years, more and more people with diverse backgrounds and ethnicities have moved into our city.” Kabir says. “A community event celebrating the diversity and heritage of our town could help residents get to know each other and improve relations between various groups, such as new and long-time residents, students and permanent residents, and people from different cultures.”

Unbeknownst to us, people were paying attention, and, in March of this year, we each got a call from one of our city council representatives, who asked us to put our proverbial money where our mouths were and attend a meeting about an event like one we were calling for. We jumped at the chance.

The first meeting was small, consisted of only five people — me, Kabir, both of our city council representatives and a city staff member — and was little more than a brainstorming session. By the time it was over, we had agreed upon two things: that an event should take place and that it would be called College Park Day.

Our second meeting was about a month later. This time, there were several more people around the table — more city council members; residents representing neighborhood associations, businesses, churches and organizations; university students; and a staffer from the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission — and we got more accomplished. We picked a date for the event (this Saturday, Oct. 9), identified a location and decided what to have in regard to food, entertainment and exhibitions. The ball officially had started to roll.

That was six months ago, and, as I write this with less than two weeks to go before the big day, I marvel at the incredible amount of energy and effort that the all-volunteer planning committee has put in to make College Park Day a reality. I’m also thankful for the city staff, local officials, public institutions, and private corporations who have so generously donated their funds (about $8,000 so far) and resources. I’m humbled by the way the larger community has encouraged and supported the event.

What amazes me the most, however, is that, through the work of all involved, we already have succeeded at bringing people together who may otherwise not have met, and we’ve shown what can be accomplished when neighbors come together and work toward a common goal.

So, how can you do something similar where you live? I recommend the following, which were vital for me:

1) Get to know your local representatives. In my experience, the people who represent you on your city or town board/council are always interested in talking to motivated, thoughtful residents. Tell them about your concerns for the neighborhood, find out what they’d like to get done in the community and what their challenges are, and (assuming you see eye-to-eye) then let them know you’re available to help change things for the better.

2) Get involved in your community. City/town boards, neighborhood associations, local committees — if these bodies have one thing in common, it’s that they need volunteers to accomplish their missions. By joining them, you can help your city or town cover its bases, learn something about how your locality runs and connect with likeminded folks — people who also want to make things better. If your town is like mine, your city council rep can tell you where the vacancies are. (See No. 1.)

3) Share your ideas. If you have things to say about what’s happening in your neighborhood and like to write, start a blog. They’re free, and you can advertise by word of mouth. However, blogger beware: Having a blog doesn’t give you a license to bitch and moan. You can write passionately, of course, but you have to offer something. If you have a unique perspective, skill set or expertise that’s of use to the community, stay focused on that. It’ll set you apart from the crowd and give readers a reason to keep coming back. If you don’t want to be a blogger, then look for a neighborhood e-mail list or Internet group.

4) Act. If you’ve zeroed in on a problem facing your community and have an idea on how to address it, then share it with your city council member (No. 1), bring it before your neighborhood association or local committee (if applicable, No. 2) and discuss it on your blog (No. 3). If it’s a good idea, and the timing is right, it might just take off.

In case the big cleanup scenes  just north of College Park on Rhode Island / Rt. 1 make you wonder what’s going on there, here is the story – a WAWA store will soon be built in that parcel of land.

The new WAWA will be located in Beltsville in between Route 1 and Rhode Island avenue, just north of Sunnyside avenue.  The site is across from Chestnut Hills Shopping Center on Route 1. WAWA will have entrances on Route 1 and Rhode Island Avenue.

In fact the news of building a Wawa store in the Beltsville is nothing new. WAWA used to have a branch in downtown College Park which was closed in 2007 (please see the old store picture in the gallery above – it’s the top left one, courtesy of RTCP).

The Beltsville Civic Association had representatives from the proposed WAWA discussing some design changes in its  May 2007 meeting at Beltsville Elementary School.

The Prince George’s County’s June 2005 zoning related documents suggest that WAWA applied for an approval of a special exception for a gas station in the C-S-C Zone. While technical staff denied, the planning board approved the request. The zoning hearing examiner also approved the request with condition.

Reports have it that the WAWA’s special exception request hit another snag, when the nearby Shell gas station filed a lawsuit, which took the past several years to settle.

So far the clearing job has been moving fairly fast. The brushes and small trees that occupied the lot once have been cleared. It’ll be interesting to see how soon the actual store construction starts.

Our polls cover three positions – County Council District 1, County’s State Attorney and Country Executive positions.

The food items were donated by the school’s community members as part of a Ramadan giving ritual called Zakat-ul-Fitr.  The Al-Huda School is a private Muslim school and thus the school’s community members mostly comprise of Muslim parents living in College Park and its surrounding areas. Established in 1995, Al-Huda School now covers Kindergarten through twelve grade.

Being Muslims, community members  have two celebrations in the year, known as Eid in Arabic, and one of these  Eids is celebrated after Ramadan, the month of fasting. Out of a concern to allow everyone to enjoy the celebration, this is where the Zakat-ul-Fitr comes into play. Amadu Kamara, one of the food drive organizers, comments, “The idea of this is  to share the joy of Eid with others who are less fortunate. It’s a very rewarding experience.”

This specific charity must be paid to the poor before the beginning of the Eid-al-Fitr prayer which is expected to be celebrated late this week. “This year we’ll be giving out to some 130 or more families in need in the Washington Metro areas. They live in all over the place – from Sterling Virginia to upper Baltimore City”, said Adil Faisal, another food drive organizer.

Dozens of the school’s community members spent much of last weekend packing the food boxes and driving them to the houses of needy families. “You must have two things – a car in good running condition and a GPS”- reads an announcement asking for volunteers. The list of these needy families is compiled mostly from their neighbors. To keep privacy of the recipients, the volunteers are only given the addresses of the recipients’ residences and asked to drop the food boxes at their door steps. 

Yesterday afternoon, I followed one group tasked to deliver 8 bags of food to a family living in a Laurel apartment.

“#11 has been delivered” – a text was sent to Faisal, once the bags were dropped at the apartment door.

[Also read: Thank you, Meals on Wheels]

About a year ago, the City paid a consulting firm called Sage Policy Group to study rent Control in the City’s residential areas. Titled “There Remains a Rational Basis for Rent Stabilzation in College Park“, the group concluded this in its final report “Rental conversion continues, homeownership is falling and rents are on the rise. Research indicates that stable homeownership is associated with numerous societal benefits and that to the extent that homeownership declines, communities are less well-positioned to enjoy those benefits.”

According to the report, the number of houses converted from residential to rental have gone up while the same figure has gone down in the PG county and in the state.

The City acted to get a hold of this. In April, it arranged two public hearings to get feedback from the residents. Later it voted down a plan to lift the rent control. Though the City passed the rent stabilation legislation in 2005, it never enforced those plans. A lawsuit by landlords against the City was holding off the City to take firm action on this legislation. In December 2008, a Prince George’s County Circuit Court ruling rejected the lawsuit by the landlords. But the landlords appealed the ruling.

Late last month, the court upheld the claims that the ordinance unfairly penalized them while placing no such restrictions on owners of student high-rises that, in many cases, charge more than the landlords.

This finally clears the City to go ahead in enforcing the law. The City is now searching for volunteers who can be part of 8 members rent stabilization board.

Though I saw a few UMd students at the event, a very few local residents could be seen there. Nonetheless, I think it’s a good start on the City’s part to help bridge the gap between the City residents and the University.

I took a few pictures of the event, please enjoy.

Let’s face it! The crosswalks in north College Park’s streets aren’t safe. There have been quite a few incidents on these streets that can be termed as ‘close calls’.

Say for example the crosswalk on Route 1 near Edgewood Road. First the crosswalk there isn’t marked properly. I’ve seen pedestrians often crossing the street running to the other end.

The same is true for the crosswalks on Rhode Island Avenue that stretches from Sunnyside to Rt193. This is the street where residents often cross between the east and the west side of the neighborhood.

The North College Park Citizens Association will discuss this continuing pedestrian hazards with the State Highway Administration (SHA) and the the County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) in its upcoming September 9 meeting. Ever curious why two different entities are invited to discuss the crosswalk safety issues on our major streets? – because SHA and DPWT own / regulate Route 1 and Rhode Island Avenue respectively.

The details about the meting has been posted on NCPCA’s website http://myncpca.org .  Please mark your calendar.

Fred Smalls

 After Mary Lehman, Crystal Thompson and Sam Epps, I approached the fourth County Council primary candidate Fredrick Smalls, the four term council member of Laurel City Council.

In addition to answering my questions, he also added comments on his opponent Mary Lehman’s earlier response on a Laurel Church discrimination case. Please see that additional response at the end his interview.

As always, if you have further questions or comments on Mr. Small’s responses, please feel free to post them in the comment section at the end of the article.

I thank Mr. Smalls and other candidates for taking time from their busy campaign schedule and responding to interview questions.

(1) There are five council candidates running in this year’s council election for District 1. Why do you think you are the best candidate in this crowded race?

A) I have the experience to lead; a strong desire to move the County forward; and the ability to make things happen for District 1. For more than 15-years I have been involved as a civic and community leader.  I began that service as president of my homeowner association and PTA president.    My service to the community broadened when I was elected to the Laurel City Council where I have served four two-year terms; two years as council president.  I have supported all aspects of public safety and helped bring Laurel to the forefront with my support of the first Emergency Services Commission.  I understand the priority of full staffing and modern training to ensure first-rate public safety capabilities.

Additionally, my hands-on experience with a tax-payer supported budget gives me direct experience managing tax-payer dollars.  I know the difficulty in stretching the dollar.  It is important to note that the City of Laurel has survived the weak economy better than most – and without furloughs or layoffs. I feel my experience is in areas the County needs most:  budgeting, emergency services, land use planning, and general management will contribute greatly to the future success of District 1 and our County. 

(2) One of your opponent candidate Mary Lehman enjoys strong endorsements from MD Delegate Joscelin Pena-Melnyk and Councilman Tom Dernoga. Do you feel that your campaign is weakened by these endorsements?

No.  I have equally strong endorsements from 21^stDistrict Delegates Barbara Frush and Ben Barnes.  Additionally, I have been endorsed by the Washington Post, the Prince George’s County Gazette, the Prince George’s County Professional and Volunteer Firefighters, the Prince George’s County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 89, the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, and the African Leadership Empowerment Council.  All of these organizations understand my commitment to public service, my experience as an open, honest and hardworking municipal legislator and they support my vision and plan to move our county forward.

 (3) The City of College Park does not have a police service. The city residents pay nearly $1 million to hire 6 contract police officers (3 P/T and 3F/T)from the county, because the police service from the county’s regular police PGFD is not enough. If elected, what will you do offset such extra cost of law enforcement from local municipalities?

The real concern I have heard has been that residents feel they are paying the additional money and they are not getting the level of service they expect.  I will focus on improving communication so the police service College Park receives is more effective.   Additionally, I will work with the mayor and council to obtain Federal Homeland Security funding and use the money for additional officers.

I think the bottom line is residents and business owners want to see that the police service is effective and responsive.  If the level of service meets the needs of the community, people may not have serious issue with the cost.

(4) The current councilman Mr. Dernoga has been criticized by some for his strong stance against redevelopment in North College Park. The implementation of “form-based codes”  in the North College Park area, north of Greenbelt Road (Rt 193) has recently been blocked as part of Rt 1 sector plan. If elected, will you continue to support Mr. Dernoga’s position?

I am committed to community conscious development where the objective is to help make what lies ahead more satisfying for people living in the community. I bring 8-years of planning and zoning experience as a member of the Laurel Planning Commission.  As a commissioner I have been involved with many development and redevelopment projects and have always encouraged community input and listened to community concerns. 

I see form-based codes as one of the tools in a planning toolbox. The quality of development outcomes are dependent on the quality and objectives of the community plan that a code implements.  The US 1 Corridor Plan has very positive aspects and since it just went into effect in July I would like to give it a little time to see if it helps brings redevelopment to US 1 Corridor.

(5) Your opponent Crystal Thompson charges against you saying “Fred Smalls experience, as a city councilman, resulted in Laurel Mall and Main Street becoming run down ghost towns instead of vibrant areas that residents want to frequent.” Any comment?.

The Laurel Commons Mall is a very important project for the City of Laurel and the surrounding community.  The City has worked extensively with the Mall owners and their attorneys to assist in advancing the project.  For example, the City approved a TIF, tax increment financing,  a public financing method that is commonly used for redevelopment and community improvement projects in municipalities, to help the owner obtain needed bank financing.  Unfortunately the instability of the financial market has made it difficult for the project to move forward.  The City has and will continue to work to see this project completed as proposed.

The City has made several streetscape improvements to Main Street and will continue to work with the Laurel Board of Trade,  business and property owners to make Laurel’s Main Street a true destination stop.

______________________________________________________________

My comment re. Mary Lehman’s response to the following question – As a West Laurel resident you (along with Mr. Dernoga) strongly opposed the construction of an African American Church in your neighborhood. A Federal Judge later awarded the Church $3.7 million in a lawsuit against the county. Critics such as State’s attorney candidate Angela Alsobrooks cite this as a discrimination case. Do you regret your opposition in the case? Please explain.

First, if there were environmental concerns, those issues were addressed at the time of subdivision.  The church’s application was for a water/sewer category change and all of the requirements to attach to public water and sewer were met and there was no reason to deny the application.  It should be noted that the County Executive and the county’s Department of Environmental Resources recommended that the sewer service category for the property be changed so the proposed church could connect to existing public water and sewer lines. The County Council voted to approve the change, but later reconsidered the request and rejected it after receiving comments from councilman Dernoga.

There were statements made by the community groups in public hearings specifically saying that the community did not want this African American church coming into the community.  The Washington Post reports that “The lawsuit alleges that Dernoga acted because of pressure from constituents who “wanted to keep the perceived majority-African-American congregation” out of West Laurel. “

The Post adds, “The jury in federal court in Greenbelt that granted the multimillion-dollar award found that the county’s actions in barring the building of the sanctuary were motivated at least in part by discriminatory intent against a religious institution.”

The court correctly ruled that the actions of Chaiman Dernoga and the council was illegal and biased, and if Mary Lehman supports the county in their actions then her attitudes and motives speak for themselves. 

The reason for this delay is the approvals from the State and the County who own the roads where these cameras would be installed. For example, in north College Park, the plan for installing cameras on Rhode Island Avenue is awaiting approval from the Prince George’s County, which owns that street.

Earlier, despite concerns from some residents, the City approved the pan to install cameras. The City awarded a contract to OptoTraffic to install and maintain these cameras. The City also held public hearing on these cameras before approving the plan.

It’s still remained to be seen how long it will take for the County to approve these cameras. The current (outgoing) Co. Executive cancelled as many as 100 cameras around the school zone early this year, citing concerns from residents.

Wallace D. Loh

The search is finally over – the University of Maryland has found a new president.

Dr. Wallace (Wally) Loh will replace Mr. Mote, who served as the UMd president for the past 12 years and will retire at the end of this month. UMd spent nearly 6 months in its search for Mr. Mote’s replacement. 400 candidates applied for the job, out of which 18 were interviewed. Dr. Loh came out to be lucky guy at the end.

So an appointment such as this after a lengthy and tough search must be a good news for our university town, right?

Perhaps so. I can feel a sense of optimism surrounding Mr. Loh’s appointment among City residents. Prior to coming to College Park, Mr. Loh served as the provost of Iowa University, where he is said to be very close to city residents there. That sounds like a good resume to lead a varsity that has deep rooted distrust among its neighbors towards it.

This also signals that in his new residence in College Park, Mr. Loh has a lot of heavy liftings to do. For a number of years, the University has been regarded by many of its neighbors as ‘one sided’, ‘unconcerned’ and even ‘arrogant’. Part of the reason, as many residents say, lies in the fact that the outgoing president Mr. Mote wasn’t quite ‘caring’ about what the residents have to say in the university affairs that also affect the native neighborhoods. Whatever the reasons are, simply put, many long time residents I’ve talked to, don’t trust UMd as a good neighbor.

Take for example the vandalism and destruction that the City’s downtown witnesses almost every year following major games. To many residents, behaviors such as these give our city black eyes to outsiders.

Then there are also issues of economic impact on the city’s taxpayers who think they often pay too much for UMd’s expansions. The UMd does pay the in Lieu of tax for such accusations, but residents think the city lose important tax base, which they think not as attractive as what could have been paid by commercial entities. The recent takeover of the old Washington Post plant just south of Greenbelt Rd is an example, residents argue.

The residents also have grievances on the matters of transportation and redevelopment of Rt 1 and its impact on the surrounding neighborhood. The purple line is another issue where residents think the UMd should take more residents’ input.

Dr. Loh’s international background can be good news for our city which is seeing changes in its ethnic compositions. Mr. Loh was born in China, grew up in Peru for some time before he migrated to the US with $200 before he fulfilled his American dream, as he said in an interview.

Unlike his predecessor, Mr. Loh has promised to listen more in the first days of his tenure. Does it mean we’ll get to see an UMd president in our neighborhood association meetings for the first time?

Thankfully, the City is doing its part in closing the rift. For the first time, it’s going to organize a Welcome back student day at the City Hall’s parking lot.  The upcoming College park Day will be another opportunity for bridging the gap between the city and the Varsity. I can already see a number of groups within the university are taking part in this event.

The growth and the survival of the university and the city are very much intertwined. And for that very reason, Mr. Loh has an unique opportunity to address these concerns and help build bridges between the two.