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Town of Edmonston Turns 100!
By PRESS OFFICER
Town of Edmonston
Edmonston, Md. (April 30, 2024)—The Town of Edmonston proudly announces its upcoming Centennial Celebration, commemorating 100 years of community history and resilience. We cordially invite you to join us for this occasion on June 1, 2024!
The festivities will begin with a vibrant parade, weaving through the heart of our town and showcasing our esteemed elected officials, including the mayor and council members. Accompanied by live DJ performances and captivating entertainment acts, the parade will set the stage for an unforgettable day of celebration.
Following the parade, our festival will kick off with a myriad of activities designed to delight attendees of all ages. From indulging in delectable offerings at food trucks to enjoying live entertainment, games, encounters with native animals, and even a foam party, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. Additionally, special recognition ceremonies will honor our graduates and local businesses, highlighting their contributions to our vibrant community.
As the day draws to a close, guests will be treated to a spectacular fireworks display, illuminating the night sky and serving as a grand finale to this extraordinary celebration.
Join us on June 1, 2024, as we come together to commemorate a century of community spirit, resilience, and joy at the Town of Edmonston’s Centennial Celebration!
Town of Edmonston:
The government of the Town of Edmonston is committed to providing all of the necessary services at the highest level to our residents, businesses, and visitors, ensuring a premium quality of life is maintained. This will be achieved by exercising fiduciary prudence, maintaining open lines of communication, providing a safe and clean environment for all persons, and planning for the future with the support and cooperation of our community.
www.edmonstonmd.gov
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PGCPS Leads State in Certified Green Schools
Three out of four PGCPS schools are ‘certified green,’ outpacing all other Maryland districts
By PRESS OFFICER
Prince George’s County Public Schools
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (April 30, 2024) —Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) continues to lead the state in Maryland Green School certification, with four schools earning first-time certification and 47 schools recertified, raising the total number of green schools to 150.
“It takes a concerted effort by students and staff to keep Prince George’s County in the forefront of the Maryland Green School program,” said Superintendent Milton House II. “This achievement supports the goals outlined in our nationally-recognized Climate Change Action Plan and highlights our work to reduce carbon footprint, improve energy efficiency and build a culture of environmental stewardship.”
PGCPS schools earning Maryland Green School certification for the first time include Brandywine, Francis T. Evans and Mary Harris “Mother” Jones elementary schools and Imagine Andrews Public Charter School.
The William S. Schmidt Outdoor Education Center—which has played a key role in both growing PGCPS school certifications and helping schools maintain Green School status —earned Maryland Green Center Sustainable Bronze status for maintaining certification for the past 18 years.
Schools earning recertification include:
• High Schools (7)—Academy of Health Sciences, Bowie High School, Crossland, Non-Traditional Program 9-12 North, Non-Traditional Program 9-12 South, Oxon Hill and Suitland
• K–8/Middle Schools (8)—Benjamin D. Foulois Creative & Performing Arts Academy, Benjamin Tasker Middle School, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ernest Everett Just, Hyattsville, Stephen Decatur, Thomas Johnson and William W. Hall Academy
• Elementary Schools (22)—Capitol Heights, Carmody Hills, Carrollton, Cherokee Lane, Doswell E. Brooks, Heather Hills, Hillcrest Heights, Hollywood, James Ryder Randall, Judge Sylvania Woods, Magnolia, Mattaponi, Mount Rainier, Panorama, Phyllis E. Williams Spanish Immersion, Pointer Ridge, Port Towns, Rosa Parks, University Park, Vansville, Whitehall and Woodridge
• Public Charter Schools (3)—Chesapeake Math and IT North High School, Chesapeake Math and IT North Middle School and Imagine Foundations at Morningside
• Early Childhood Centers (1)—Chapel Forge
Schools must recertify every four years to maintain Green School status. Bond Mill and Rockledge elementary schools achieved Sustainable status after 14 years of consecutive certification. Berwyn Heights Elementary, Dora Kennedy French Immersion, Patuxent Elementary and Robert Goddard Montessori achieved Sustainable Bronze status having maintained certification for 18 years.
In addition to having the most schools apply for certification, PGCPS tied with Montgomery County Public Schools for the highest number of new Maryland Green Schools.
Schools will be honored during the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education’s (MAEOE) Annual Youth Summit on Thursday, May 30 at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis. Schools will also receive a Maryland Green School flag, statewide and local recognition and special gifts.
Sponsored by MAEOE, the Maryland Green Schools program is among the most rigorous and comprehensive Green School certification programs in the nation. It encourages educational opportunities, increases environmental awareness and promotes environmental stewardship practices for students at all grade levels. Through a non-competitive application process, schools must demonstrate their green activities and culture in eight criteria areas.
For more information about the Green School Program, visit the MAEOE website.
Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS), one of the nation’s 20th largest school districts, has 201 schools and centers, more than 133,000 students and nearly 20,000 employees. The school system serves a diverse student population from urban, suburban and rural communities located in the Washington, DC suburbs. PGCPS is nationally recognized for college and career-readiness programs that provide students with unique learning opportunities, including dual enrollment and language immersion.
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Democratic Senate Candidate Alsobrooks Aims to Bring New Perspective to the Capitol
Editor’s note: A profile on Democratic Senate candidate David Trone, also by Capital News Service, follows.
By KATHARINE WILSON
Capital News Service
WASHINGTON (May 1, 2024)—Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks hopes to bring a new perspective to the U.S. Senate. Maryland voters will decide on May 14 if she’s prepared to make the leap.
“The people who are closest to the pain are also closest to the solutions,” Alsobrooks said in an April 4 Zoom interview with Capital News Service.
The candidate, who has served as a county state’s attorney and currently as county executive, believes that her experience being close to her constituents could bring something new to the Senate, highlighting the importance of understanding how policies impact people.
Alsobrooks is running against Rep. David Trone and eight of less-prominent Democrats in the Maryland Democratic Senate primary. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is the Republican frontrunner.
Alsobrooks was born in 1971 in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to a working class family. What she remembers about her childhood is how her community stressed the importance of taking care of others.
“We had an obligation to care about the success of others,” Alsobrooks said. “That has stuck with me to really not only work hard to make sure that we’re improving the world.”
She attended Duke University for her B.A. in public policy and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Alsobrooks started as an assistant state’s attorney for Prince George’s County in 1997, eventually becoming the county’s first full-time domestic violence prosecutor.
During her time in the latter post, Alsobrooks said there was a moment when she realized that her daughter was growing up in a place less safe than the one Alsobrooks grew up in.
Alsobrooks said she decided that there was more she could do to address systemic issues in the county.
“There were so many in our courtrooms and courthouses who were seeking second chances, and I realized that many of them had never had the first chance of success,” Alsobrooks said.
She was elected in 2010 as the Prince George’s County state’s attorney, the top law enforcement officer. Under her tenure, violent crime dropped by over 50% between 2011 and 2018, according to FBI crime data, when Alsobrooks was a part of a group of county leaders focused on crime reduction.
Alsobrooks then won her election for county executive in 2018.
She takes credit for helping to build 10 new schools in the county, creating jobs and leading the county through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I've done policy, but I've also been on the implementation side,” Alsobrooks said. “We need people right now in Washington who know how to get things done, not just talk.”
Alsobrooks accepted 46 out of 50 police reform recommendations in 2021 that came out of the county’s police reform work group. The tough-on-crime state’s attorney said that good leadership and reforms can help solve problems in the criminal justice system.
“I believe that our families deserve to live in places where they have both justice and freedom,” Alsobrooks said.
Only three senators in U.S. history have been Black women. There are no women in Maryland’s 10-member congressional delegation.
This lack of diversity is one reason why Rep. Steny Hoyer said he endorsed Alsobrooks, someone he’s known for about 15 years.
“I think that she will make a real contribution to the multiplicity of perspectives and opinions that we’ve brought to the Senate, so I’m a very strong supporter of hers,” Hoyer said in an interview.
Hoyer said that the experiences that Trone has had are well-represented in the Senate, unlike those of Alsobrooks’s life. Alsobrooks has shown excellence and a passion for helping people at every stage of her career, Hoyer said.
One criticism Alsobrooks receives from opponents is her lack of federal political experience.
Maryland has only elected three senators since World War II without experience in the House. However, most current senators have not served in the House, according to the Senate’s website.
Alsobrooks stresses that she has experience working with her constituents and the federal delegation to get projects and federal funding for the county.
In the Senate, Alsobrooks said, she wants to be an advocate for abortion rights, economic growth for Maryland and reduced healthcare costs.
Alsobrooks has spent nearly $4 million dollars on her Senate campaign, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission reports. Her major donors include ActBlue and Emily’s List. She has publicly criticized the wealthy Trone of attempting to buy the election by spending $41 million of his own money on his campaign.
“I do not believe that the people of Maryland are going to allow anyone to buy an election,” Alsobrooks said. “I think when they hear my record and vision, they’ll support me.”
Trone has criticized Alsobrooks for her support while she was state’s attorney for the death penalty in a murder case. Trone is opposed to the death penalty because he believes it is racist. Alsobrooks has since stated that she would not support a federal death penalty.
Prince George’s County Councilmember Krystal Oriadha, who endorsed Trone, claimed in a Zoom interview that Alsobrooks as county executive has not supported policies or funded initiatives Senate candidate Alsobrooks claims to support on healthcare and LGBTQ+ pride.
“I have to judge people off of their record,” Oriadha said.
The reason why Alsobrooks believes she has gained the endorsements from many top Maryland Democratic politicians—including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and five House members—is that she is a good listener.
Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Maryland, met Alsobrooks in the 1990s on Capitol Hill. Throughout the years, Mfume said in an interview, he has been able to understand her work ethic and her values as she moved through county politics.
“I’ve supported her and everything she’s ever run for,” Mfume said. “I know her soul, her mind and I certainly know her history.”
Alsobrooks believes that she would bring something new to the Senate, both diversity and a different resumé than her competitors. Without the perspectives of mothers, women and all races, Alsobrooks said the delegation is incomplete.
“It is really important to have varied experiences there,” Alsobrooks said about the Senate. “Until that happens, I think our policies are incomplete.”
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Democratic Senate Hopeful Trone Sees Himself as Progressive Conciliator
By KATHARINE WILSON
Capital News Service
WASHINGTON (May 1, 2024)—Rep. David Trone views himself as an outsider in Congress. On May 14, Maryland voters will decide if the three-term lawmaker, self-described progressive and wealthy businessman is the right Democrat to try to retain a Senate seat for the party.
Trone doesn’t play golf or hold a membership to any country club, he said, but that doesn’t stop his Democratic opponents in the primary from criticizing him for being out of touch with Marylanders, PACs from calling him a “billionaire bully,” and some fellow politicians from seeing him as not a real progressive.
However, Trone sees this image as almost an advantage in his efforts to reach across the aisle to Republicans.
“You’re stereotyped because you’re a white businessman so therefore you can’t be progressive, but I’m far and away the progressive in this race,” Trone said in an interview with Capital News Service. “But I’m the progressive that gets stuff done … I reach across the aisle and figure out how to bring parties together.”
Trone is running against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and eight lesser-known Democrats in the primary. Trone and Alsobrooks by far dominate the field in spending, polls and ads.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan is the presumed Republican nominee for the Senate.
Trone has represented Maryland’s 6th District, which includes Western Maryland and parts of Montgomery County, since 2019.
In an April 9 interview with CNS at the Democratic National Committee, Trone discussed his life, House career and what he hopes for the future.
As he spoke, he effortlessly rattled off various statistics and facts about his record before running off for House votes.
Born in Cheverly, Maryland in 1955, the congressman spent his teenage years working at his family farm near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. After finishing his undergraduate degree at Furman University, Trone moved back to the farm, living with his father and brother.
Life wasn’t easy for the family. His father was an abusive alcoholic, Trone said, and they lost the family farm when the future lawmaker was in his mid-twenties.
As Trone put himself through an M.B.A. program on a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, he opened his first business brokering eggs and later his first beer and soda store.
Trone eventually built an empire with Total Wine & More, his billion-dollar liquor chain that has grown to at least 266 locations across 28 states.
“I understand the value of work better than anybody in this race, it’s not even close,” Trone said.
Making his fortune off of Total Wine & More gave Trone the opportunity to run for office his own way, running without relying on PAC and special interest funding.
Trone won his first election in the 6th District in 2018 after he lost his first House race two years earlier in a primary against Rep. Jamie Raskin in the 8th District.
Trone has spent $41 million of his own money on his Senate campaign, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission reports. Outside of his own funding, Trone received $105,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The committee has not given him any funding since June 2023.
Trone is a long-term supporter of Israel and has advocated for a two-state solution and a ceasefire in Gaza, positions he reiterated in an April 19 Senate debate.
While Trone acknowledged that not everyone can self-fund a Senate campaign, he said that this allows him to be truly independent and fight against the pharmaceutical industry and other major corporations.
“I’m one of the few people that can do that,” Trone said about self-funding. “I’m willing to put my resources that I earned from zero and rather than giving them to my kids, I’m putting it into a campaign to change America the much better way.”
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, works with Trone on the House Appropriations Committee and endorsed the candidate in November. Ruppersberger said he respects Trone for being a self-made person and being a hard worker on committees.
“He still cares about helping his country and he doesn’t need to do this for money or anything else,” Ruppersberger said in an interview outside of the House chamber. “He just cares about being a U.S. congressman.”
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown praised Trone in an ad for the campaign.
“He will level the playing field because he believes that everyone deserves an equal shot and he will always be there on the frontline of justice,” Brown said.
Alsobrooks, his opponent, has made headlines for her endorsements from other Maryland Democratic politicians including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and five of Trone’s colleagues in the House.
Trone said part of the reason why he didn’t receive those endorsements is because of congressional reforms he has proposed. They include instituting term limits, taking away special interest money in campaigns, eliminating stock trading by lawmakers and banning senators and House members from becoming lobbyists.
“The politicians, they’re a part of the club…I’m an outsider,” Trone said. “They’re all politicians who pat each other on the back…I don’t do any of this stuff.”
Trone said he decided to enter the Senate race after Sen. Ben Cardin, D–Maryland, announced his retirement, presenting an opportunity to step up and be effective statewide.
Trone also said in a Feb. 29 speech at the University of Maryland that he wanted to switch to the Senate because senators got more done than the closely-divided House.
Trone’s policy priorities are in mental health care, addiction, education, criminal justice reform and medical research.
Many of these issues are personal to Trone, who is a cancer survivor, a public school system graduate and the uncle of a victim of a fatal fentanyl overdose.
In the last Congress, Trone said, he helped to pass 26 bills on substance abuse and mental health.
He funded the American Civil Liberties Union’s Trone Center for Criminal Justice in 2015. Trone became passionate about criminal justice reform after being wrongfully accused of various business violations by a Pennsylvania attorney general during his time in business school, according to the ACLU.
“Justice was unfair to me,” Trone said. “I came out and …was able to be hugely successful. Others that are Black and Brown don’t get that shot and that makes me madder than a hornet.”
Trone’s campaign has not been without controversy.
He often touts his perfect record on voting for abortion protections and abiding by all Planned Parenthood requests to testify or write a letter in support of abortion access. Trone was also a supporter of an abortion clinic that opened last year in Cumberland, Maryland, across from West Virginia, which has strict abortion laws.
However, Alsobrooks and other Trone opponents cite a Time magazine report last year that Trone’s firm Retail Services and Systems donated to pro-life Republican candidates, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Trone stepped down from day-to-day operations of his businesses around 2015, he said, and funding GOP candidates was in an effort to protect his employees’ jobs. For example, he was pushing for relaxing liquor laws in Colorado in 2022.
Trone said that in federal races, he has donated only to Democrats.
“It was my job to protect the jobs of my folks’ thousands of jobs in…those states that don’t share our values in many, many ways,” Trone said.
During a House budget hearing in March, Trone mistakenly uttered a racial slur while talking about tax rates, drawing staunch criticism online. He apologized, saying that the word should never be “used any time, anywhere, in any conversation”.
Trone also has been labeled as a “billionaire bully” by Fight Corporate Monopolies, a progressive PAC, that ran an ad this month criticizing Trone’s actions as a businessman, including a disputed claim about threatening a delivery worker in 2021 and emphasizing that the Federal Trade Commission sued Total Wine & More last year in a monopoly investigation.
Trone’s campaign has denied the threat allegation, saying Trone “never made the statement this organization is alleging.” The FTC settled with Total Wine & More in December.
Trone claimed that he is the only one in this race who could beat Hogan in the general election, a race which could help determine control of the Senate.
Trone has won in Republican areas of Western Maryland and he can therefore appeal to voters across the state, the congressman said.
Trone also cited various recent polls that show his strength against the former governor. In nearly every poll since Hogan launched his Senate bid, Trone is the most competitive candidate against the former governor, who nevertheless is favored against both Democratic candidates.
What sets him apart from Alsobrooks in this race, Trone said, are his connections in the Senate, his ability to prevail over adversity and his rejection of special interest funding in his campaign.
“I’m ready for the job day one,” Trone said. “I’ve created a $6 billion business from zero and started with nothing. Nothing has ever been given to me.”
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