Hot Tips for Safe Grilling

(Click on the image for the article)

From Washington Consumers Checkbook:
We love grilling and with good reason: Burgers, seafood, chicken, ribs, even otherwise yucky veggies are delicious cooked over an open flame. Whatever’s on your menu, everything tastes better with a heaping helping of safety. Here’s a recipe for safe grilling:

• Fire safety (keep that char on the rib eye)
• Food safety (because salmon is yum, salmonella not so much)

When It's 3 am, Do You Know Where Your Car Is?

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The "WATCH YOUR CAR" program is administered by the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council (MVTPC) and is provided as a public service, free of charge, to owners of vehicles registered in the State of Maryland. It is a voluntary vehicle registration program designed to deter auto theft and assist in the apprehension of auto thieves.

Foam Free Prince George's County

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Starting July 1, 2016, polystyrene (commonly referred to as Styrofoam TM), polystyrene loose fill packaging (also known as "packing peanuts") and other foam articles are not permitted for sale or use in Prince George's County. [County code is here]
​Why the Ban? To reduce the amount of polystyrene waste entering the landfill and local waterways, the County is requiring the use of non-foam food packaging products that are environmentally-friendly and for everyone to be "Foam Free in PGC."
[This affects county businesses, not consumers]

Alton Sterling's Son Asks for President's Help Uniting Races of the World

(Click on the image for the 9 min. video)

The full "The President and the People: Race in America" program is available here.

Basic Home Target Hardening

(Click on the image for the Manual)

From page 29: "Since most burglaries and thefts are crimes of opportunity, the more obstacles that we put in place to protect ourselves, the less the chance of our being victimized. In sports, the more defenses a team has, and the better that defense is, the less likely the opponent will be to score. In target hardening, we want to increase our “defense” by identifying multiple methods that you can employ to protect yourself and stop the criminal. Some are common sense methods that cost little or no time or effort, while others may be more complicated." [Read Chapter 9 on Basic Home Target Hardening]

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture - Sep 24th

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On Saturday, September 24, 2016, the public witnesses the outdoor Dedication Ceremony of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In the afternoon, the museum officially opens to the public. Tickets are not required for the public to view the outdoor Dedication Ceremony. Extensive large-screen viewing areas are well-positioned for crowds during the Dedication Ceremony.

• 8:00 am Gathering and Musical Prelude
• 10:00am Dedication Ceremony Begins
• 1:00pm Museum Opens to the Public

Join The Conservancy of Broad Creek

(Click on the image for recent achievements, goals for the future, and to join.)

The Conservancy has a number of plans and programs to organize and implement, but we are a
small volunteer organization based entirely, at the moment, on the Blanch Dubois theory of
economics namely, we survive due to the kindness of strangers.

Tanta-Cove Garden Club Is Looking for New Members

The purpose of the Club is to encourage interest in all phases of home gardening, to promote better horticultural practices, to increase our members’ knowledge and appreciation of gardening and beautification of the home and community.
We welcome new residents, retirees, men and women who want to learn and are passionate about beautification, nature, health, and sustainable living.
In our club you make lasting friendships and foster your own personal growth while enhancing the community.
We go beyond gardening. Members, if they choose, can continue learning through our National Garden Clubs, Inc. courses adding dimension to their own lives and Clubs. They become Gardening, Landscape Design and Environmental Consultants as well as Accredited Flower Show Judges. To further educate Members and the viewing public in Horticulture and the Arts of Floral Design, we hold Flower Shows based on standardized procedures.
We offer many ways for new members to get involved. This includes working in one of our public gardens, field trips, plant sales, craft projects, flower shows and many other activities sponsored by the club.
We have interesting and quality programs; Our Board works very hard to plan and organize the meetings, so that our programs are excellent and our meetings are conducted in a timely fashion.
Most of all: We have FUN!
We meet the first Wednesday of every month (September thru June). If you’re making a change in your life or looking for something fun and interesting to do, contact us for more information and an opportunity to join the club.  The membership Chair for 2016/17 is Grace Collins.  You can reach Grace at the following email address: foodfarmacist@gmail.com.

Safeway Closing Amid Prince George's County Food Desert

(Click on the image for Tracee Wilkins' Report)

Tracee Wilkins reports on how the closing of the Safeway store in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, is creating more concern and anger for a community that's already considered to be a food desert, with a lack of access to fresh food options in the area.

How Whole Foods Decides If Your Neighborhood Is Worthy

(Click on the image for the Washingtonian article)

• At the April 13 meeting of the Prince George's County Community Leadership Council, County Council Member Mel Franklin explained why we have a problem getting better retail (like supermarkets) in South Prince George's County. Listen to the 5 minute mp3 audio clip by clicking here.
• The Prince George's County Retail Market Analysis is here.

What you should know before you call 911

(Click on the image for the WTOP article)

• Call 911 to report emergency situations such as any fire, life-threatening situation, a serious crime in progress or serious medical problem that requires immediate response. (Do NOT hang up!)
• Call the county police’s non-emergency dispatch number at 301-352-1200 when you need help from police for a situation that is not an emergency. For example, to report a crime that happened in the past, a nonthreatening suspicious person, car or situation, a parking violation or property damage.
• Call 311 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday with questions, complaints or compliments about county programs and services, questions about impounded cars, snow removal, recycling or trash pickup.
• Call the county police tip line at 1-866-411-8477 to report unusual activity or something that seems out of place, let police know about something that doesn’t require an immediate response, or submit Crime Solvers information. You also can submit a tip online.

Mosquito Repellents That Best Protect Against Zika

Photograph by Sidney Zaratustra

• Watch this 4 minute video by Maryland's mosquito expert.
• The Asian Tiger Mosquito in Maryland (Maryland Department of Agriculture)
• Zika Prevention
• White House Says It Will Cut Ebola Funding To Address Zika (NPR.org)
• Why Can’t We Get Rid of Mosquitoes Entirely? (The New York Times)
• Mosquito Repellents That Best Protect Against Zika (Consumer Reports)
  The most effective products against Aedes mosquitoes were Sawyer Picaridin and Natrapel 8 Hour, which each contain 20 percent picaridin, and Off! Deepwoods VIII, which contains 25 percent deet. They kept mosquitoes from biting for about 8 hours. (The Sawyer product was more effective at repelling ticks than the deet products we tested, making it our top insect repellent overall.)
  [Read the full report here and download the insect repellant ratings here]

Once a week

• Empty water from containers, such as flowerpot saucers, watering cans, and buckets
• Change the water in bird baths
• Empty water that collects in the folds of tarps used to cover woodpiles, boats, pools, etc.
• Position corrugated drainpipes to ensure drainage

Once a month

• Apply a larvicide (an insecticide applied to water to kill mosquito larvae), such as Mosquito Dunks®, to standing water that cannot be emptied or drained.

As necessary

• Clean leaves and debris from roof gutters.
• Recycle old tires
• Be sure water on property flows freely from drainage areas
• Fill-in puddles or areas of your yard that remain wet and soggy for more than a week
• Aerate ornamental ponds or stock the pond with fish
• Apply a barrier spray to vegetation around your home. Products containing the active ingredient permethrin will provide two to three weeks of relief from biting adult mosquitoes. Always follow label instructions.

Don't Be a Victim! - Hide It, Lock It, Keep It

MGM National Harbor casino opens employment center (WMAR)

(Click on the image for the WMAR video)

Job seekers hoping to work at Maryland’s newest casino in Prince George’s County are one step closer to a job.
MGM National Harbor’s Employment Center opened Monday in Oxon Hill inside of the former Thomas Addison Elementary School. The renovated building will offer training programs and job assistance. The casino and resort said it plans to hire nearly 3600 new employees in the coming months.
Interview opportunities begin Monday at 9 a.m. at MGM National Harbor Employment Center located at 7100 Oxon Hill Road. Find more information HERE .

Low-Cost Pet Vaccination Clinic - 1st Thursday of Every Month

• Rabies vaccinations are $15.
• ​​Citizens 65 years of age and older (proof of age required) may obtain two free pet licenses per year provided their animal(s) is spayed/neutered and is up-to-date on rabies vaccination(s).
• The Low-Cost Vaccination Clinic at the Prince George’s County Animal Services Facility is temporarily suspending vaccination services during the months of July and August 2016. Walk-in services will resume on Thursday, September 1, 2016 from 12-2 p.m. Appointments are not required.

RideSmart

(Click on the image for the RideSmart website)

"RideSmart Solutions is your guide to alternative transportation options in Prince George's County. We provide FREE information and benefit programs for bus service, rail lines, carpooling, vanpooling and telecommuting as well as Employer specialized programs. RideSmart provides comprehensive programs backed by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, your state and local governments and several other transportation organizations, all working together to improve commuting in and around the region.
Prince George's County works closely with the Commuter Connections program to help promote transportation alternatives and connect commuters to jobs, education, shopping, healthcare, and other important destinations, while reducing auto emissions and traffic congestion. We want to make sure you have all the resources needed in order to successfully enjoy making alternative modes of transportation your main source of traveling."

Norm Returns to Vietnam

VIETNAM REVISITED

In March 2016, Norm McDaniel, one of our long time neighbors on Monterey Circle went to Vietnam again.  This time he had a return ticket before he departed.  The first time, the trip was to be a one-year tour flying combat missions over North Vietnam from Takhli Air Base, Thailand starting in Feb, 1966.  However, that one-year tour became a seven-year tour because Norm’s plane was shot-down near Hanoi in Jul, 1966 where he and four of his five other crewmembers were captured and remained Prisoners of War (POWs) of the North Vietnamese until Feb, 1973. One of the six crewmembers of the EB-66C Airplane in which he flew did not survive the shoot-down by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM).  

Norm’s return to Vietnam was his first since being repatriated in Feb, 1973 as part of Operation Homecoming.  His return trip was part of a College of the Ozarks’ patriotic history class that provides selected students the opportunity (biennially) to visit a country and sites where U.S. Military Forces have fought.  The College of the Ozarks located in Point Lookout, MO has been conducting such trips for the past 20 years to include such places as England, France, Korea, and Vietnam.  

The group consisted of 12 students, 12 Vietnam War veterans, and six College of the Ozarks staff members (including the class instructor).  Student selection was very competitive because only one out of 10 of those who applied was selected.  Departing from the San Francisco, CA Airport on Mar, 13, the group arrived is Saigon.  During the following two weeks, moving from South to North, the group toured locations and sites (battlefields, buildings, museums, cities, and former U.S. bases) in the former South Vietnam and North Vietnam including Saigon, Tay Ninh, Bien Hao, Cam Rahn, Nha Trang, Ban Me Thuot, Pleiku, Qui Nhon, Da Nang, Hue, Dong Ha, and Hanoi.  In Hanoi, the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” was toured.  The Hanoi Hilton is a name given to the prison complex by captured American flyers held there where they were tortured and exploited. Its formal name is Hao Lao Prison.   At each place visited, the Veteran on the tour who was stationed (or served) in that area briefed the rest of the tour group on what happened during the time he served there, and how the area is now in comparison to the 1960s or early 1970s.  In Hanoi, John Fer and Norm (the two ex-POWs) briefed the group on the Hanoi Hilton, how it was laid out, and what happened to us and the other American prisoners held there.  

The group departed Hanoi, flew to Taiwan, and after changing flights, flew to San Francisco.  At that point, the tour group members dispersed and took flights to their individual destinations, with Norm returning to Washington-Reagan National Airport on 26 Mar, 2016.  Norm’s account of the trip is that it was great, but “There’s no place like home!  It’s truly great, and a real blessing to be a citizen of the United States of America."
(Click here for more about Norm)

Maryland Vietnam War Stories

(Click on the image for previews of the 3 episodes)

• Part 1 - Escalation
• Part 2 - Turning Point (Missing "FKIA" reports cause problems at 8 min. in)
• Part 3 - Draw Down

Neshante' and Chloe Davis Domestic Violence Prevention Task Force

Senator Muse reports: SB 1143 will allow stakeholders from across the state to join forces to study the effectiveness of current intervention strategies and explore new strategies for 'intervention before escalation' of such violence.
Unfortunately, there have been several domestic violence incidents since the deaths of NeShante' and 2-year old Chloe, and several of these tragedies have occurred in Prince George's County. Other victims include Tareeka Jones and Jalisa Walls-Harris (March 2016) and Gladys Tordil (May 2016).
As a community, we're going to have to work hard to address the tough issues that are tearing families apart. It is my hope that SB 1143 will bring advocates and experts from across the state around the table so that together, we can figure out how to address the problem.

Join the Fort Washington Pool!

(Click on the image for the FWPool website)