An Active Senior Is a Healthy Senior!

June Meetings & Events of Interest

How to Choose an Assisted Living Community

(Click on the image for the Washington Consumers'Checkbook article)

• Once you’ve identified a handful of prospective communities, call them and ask a lot of questions. There’s much at stake, so you need to choose smartly. Some require buy-in options, sizeable financial commitments that are typically difficult or impossible to back out of. Even if you choose a residence that charges only monthly rent, there are usually a lot of upfront moving costs and a minimum one-year lease. “In many ways, it’s like buying a car—there’s the sticker price, but when you finally sign on the dotted line, it has nothing to do with the final amount you’ll pay,”
• The advice is free to all, but you need to be a subscriber to see their online ratings of 202 assisted living communities in the area. Prince George's County Memorial Libraries have hard copies. It's worth seeing the ratings just to see how much assisted living costs.

Around 1/3 of the bills introduced this session of the MD General Assembly were passed

(Click on the image for Daniel Oyefusi and Jake Gluck's Capital News Service Report)

A total of 2,497 pieces of legislation were introduced in the 2019 Maryland General Assembly. About 45 percent, 1,124, made it to a final floor vote in at least one of the chambers. About 77 percent of these, 866, were passed into law. In total, 35 percent of the bills introduced this session became law. This data includes joint resolutions.

Va. hospitals rank 2nd in nation in patient safety; Md. lags, DC near bottom

(Click on the image for Neal Augenstein's WTOP report)

"Virginia hospitals rank second in the country in patient safety, but patients in Maryland and the District hospitals are far more likely to encounter problems during their stays, according to a not-for-profit hospital watchdog group.

The “Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade” ratings are based on publicly reported data on the hospital’s rates of infections, complications and deaths from surgery, patient falls and injuries, bed sores and other situations that affect a patient’s stay.

All of the Northern Virginia hospitals in the WTOP listening area scored As or Bs, according to the study.

Maryland ranked 30th in the study, with a wide discrepancy of safety scores, from As to Ds, even within the Capital Beltway, in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties."

• Fort Washington Medical Center, Fort Washington: C
• MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Clinton: C

Take Metro to MGM? Maybe. WMATA to study a Wilson Bridge extension.

(Click on the image for Jonathan Capriel's Washington Business Journal report)

• [T]he Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is planning a study to figure out the logistics of moving its trains between Alexandria and National Harbor using the 12-lane bridge. 
• The study is supposed to forecast ridership to a National Harbor station, estimate the operating and capital costs of the extension, and examine the feasibility of putting Metro tracks on the drawbridge, which opens a few dozen times a year for maintenance and to allow particularly tall ships to pass. Maryland, which will fund the study, mandated it as part of a 2018 law that provided WMATA with a dedicated funding stream. 
• Regarding the study, WMATA has already "started that effort," Paul Wiedefeld, WMATA general manager, said during an interview with WBJ reporters and editors. He did not get into specifics on how the study would proceed, how much it will cost or if a bid process was underway.

Tantallon Residents Are Considerate Neighbors

(An out of control party)

Dear Neighbors,

It's the time of year when we look ahead to enjoying ourselves outside so it's also a good time for a nudge on being good to each other:

Considerate neighbors keep their parties, equipment, and music under control so they don't disturb others.

Notice our law no longer mentions a time when noise is or is not an issue. We are all entitled to peace, quiet and comfort 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Noise Control (link to County Code). Note there are significant fines associated with noise citations.

"The County Council for Prince George's County, Maryland, hereby declares it to be the public policy of the County that every resident of the County is entitled to noise levels that are not detrimental to health, safety, or welfare and the use, enjoyment and protection of property; and the general intent of this Division is to control noise levels throughout the County so as to promote public health, safety, welfare, the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the County.

A person may not create noise or allow noise to be created that disturbs the peace, quiet, and comfort of a residential area and includes residences in all areas."

Social media make it all too easy for strangers and uninvited guests to crash a party - sometimes with tragic results. If you are concerned about this, give Officer Green (TDGreen1@co.pg.md.us, 301-292-5300) a several day heads up to alert our police.

Please call the police to complain about a noisy or out of control party. Use the non-emergency number (301-352-1200) or 911 depending on the situation.

A couple uprooted a 180-year-old oak. A judge ordered them to pay nearly $600,000

(Click on the image for Allyson Chiu's Washington Post report)

• This happened in California but it makes the point that environmental agreements are serious.
• Tantallon properties in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area (CBCA) are subject to a Conservation Plan and Agreement. You should review your agreement before you cut or move a tree.
• You can see the CBCA on PGAtlas.com by clicking on the CBCA Overlay layer under the Administrative layer drop-down.

Tantallon Mosquito Spray Night Notification

Dear Tantallon Neighbors,

This is to notify you that your scheduled spray night is MONDAY. Spray season begins on May 29th and is anticipated to end on September 17th. Spraying will begin after dark and may continue until midnight or later. We do not conduct spray activity during daylight hours. If you see a truck in your community spraying during the day, it is not the State of Maryland. 
Spraying will commence as soon as it is dark. As a precaution, we advise residents to stay inside their homes and close their windows while the spray truck is in the vicinity, bring in any pets, and remain in the home for 20-30 minutes after the spray truck has passed by. If there are people outside when the truck passes by, no spray will be released, and the truck will not make another pass down that street.
The spray schedule will rotate every 3 weeks. This means that your community may or may not be sprayed each week. The frequency will be determined by surveillance data collected, and complaints received.
In order to determine if your community will be sprayed on its scheduled spray night, please contact our office on Monday's between 2-4 p.m. to find out if we are spraying your community that night. We do not know any further in advance if you will be sprayed on any particular Monday night. You may call or email. See below.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Stormy
Ms. Stormy Keyes, Office Secretary III, Department of Agriculture, Mosquito Control
301-422-5080, stormy.keyes@maryland.gov

Keep Your Grill Away from Your Home!

(Click on the image for the News Toronto report)

• Fire Chief Barksdale at the May 8th South County Community Roundtable warned that grills and vinyl siding are a dangerous combination. Siding fire travels up to your attic and destroys your home. Fire sprinklers, if you have them. can not save your home.
• As the video mentions, the fumes from the burning vinyl can be toxic.
• No matter what kind of siding you home has, keep your grill as far away from you home as you can and keep it under supervision!

Want a Trader Joe's in Fort Washington?

(Click on the image to ask Trader Joe's to trade in Fort Washington)

There are many posts on NextDoor from people who have already filled out their request.