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GREENBELT An Independent Newspaper eview Homeschooler News R adventures page 12 VOL. 81, No. 6 15 Crescent Rd., Suite 100, Greenbelt, MD 20770-1887 JANUARY 4, 2018 Breaking News: Long-time Editor Steps Down City Zoning Rewrite Meeting This issue brings good wishes Covers NCO, Legacy Zones for the new year to you our read- by Kathleen Gallagher ers from all of us at the news- paper. Prince George’s County his office will complete analysis The purpose of the meeting This issue also brings the an- launched the major undertaking of the latest round of comments was for council to review the nouncement of my stepping down of rewriting its aged Zoning Or- by early February and have the staff’s recommended comments from the position of editor after dinance and Subdivision Regula- legislative draft ready for the on the Comprehensive Review 45 years of continuous service, tions more than three years ago. county council by early spring. Draft. A significant part of the plus a couple of short stints ear- Many countywide meetings and Depending upon the council’s discussion involved measures lier. presentations later, it is not yet schedule, it is likely they will not to compensate for the loss of One could say I have had a near the finish line but the focus take action until the fall of 2018. the formal and informal proce- life-long love affair with news- is narrowing. It will be turned The countywide map amendment dures currently in place that will papers. We were always a two- over to the county council fairly would then be adopted in 2019. be eliminated along with the newspaper family when I was soon and it is beginning to be Since the new zoning ordinance Residential Planned Community growing up in Chicago – Tribune imaginable that there may some- will not take effect until the map (RPC) Zone, which includes his- in the morning, Sun Times in the HIGGINS PEGGY BY PHOTO day be a light at the end of this amendment is adopted, public toric Greenbelt. Mary Lou Williamson evening. I remember the “Dewey tunnel. hearings will be held in conjunc- The worksession attracted Wins” bold headline in the Tri- be less inclined to see the new On December 4 the city tion with that event, and there about 10 audience members, bune in 1948. I had a brief stint female cub reporter as the enemy. council held yet another meeting will be an appeals process avail- most of whom were residents as sports-page editor in ninth The agenda item failed and was with Terri Hruby, acting director able when the map is released. or representatives of Greenbelt grade and three years on my col- never brought up again. of the city’s planning depart- The occasion for the meeting Homes, Inc. (GHI), which has a lege newspaper, two as business I was given another somewhat ment, Chad Williams, project was a significant leap forward in significant stake in the aspects of manager. I also enjoyed writing – similar assignment as a neutral director for the rewrite team the process. Where previously the rewrite that impact its own gathering and organizing informa- reporter when I wrote one of the with the planning department; of the project has been discussed property as well as the broader tion and putting the results down two city council stories that were the Maryland-National Capital in terms of its various parts and area considered to be historic on paper. Term papers usually later cited in the 1965 libel suit. Park and Planning Commission modules, the Comprehensive Greenbelt. raised my grades. During the following months, (M-NCPPC); and City Manager Review Draft, which puts the Until fairly recently, the In the winter of 1962, when I senior staff members worked with Nicole Ard. pieces together, had recently been city and GHI anticipated that arrived in Greenbelt newly mar- the lawyers preparing for trial. Regarding the schedule going released for public review. Com- ried, the News Review was work- My job was to keep the paper forward, Williams said he expects ments were due by December 15. See ZONING, page 8 ing on the 25-year history of the running smoothly. city. Discovering that I had been It is perhaps worth saying a history major, my neighbor that for the first 25 years of the Virginia Beauchamp, then editor, Cooperator/News Review there Christmas Bird Count Keeps invited me to participate, which were 39 editors. I like to guess I did, also proofreading at her there were a lot of loud voices in house some Wednesday nights. those early years, pushing a wide The 118-Year Tradition Alive On Tuesday nights in those early variety of ideas – something by Matt Arbach years I mostly recall how hard it Greenbelt has always enjoyed – was to write headlines. both from the editorial staff and On a frigid January 1, 13 in established circles 15 miles One of my first assignments from our readers. I really don’t volunteers over the course of in diameter, with each circle was to cover the Greenbelt know, I wasn’t there then. the day, equipped with binocu- counted on one day from mid- Homes, Inc. (GHI) board meet- What I do know is that during lars and tally sheets, gathered at December through early January. ing when charging the newspaper the past 50-some years, the paper Buddy Attick Park, Lake Arteme- The tradition began in 1900 by rent for our basement office on has developed and maintained sia, Greenbelt Homes, Inc. and an officer of the Audubon Soci- Parkway was on the agenda. a slow but steady strength in Greenbelt Park to participate in ety, now known as the National What we paid to GHI was called providing this community with this year’s Christmas Bird Count. Audubon Society, established in out-of-pocket expenses for elec- a reliable stream of useful and They worked until sunset and 1905. The idea was to create an tricity, heat and water. To call it necessary information. A quiet afterward converged at TJ Elliot’s alternative to the tradition of bird rent could mean an antagonistic strength that I like to believe I in Bowie for the tally dinner to hunting on Christmas. At the board could raise the rent far have contributed to. ascertain their final count. time, the over-hunting of birds above what we could pay. If We have covered our impor- The focus of the count is to had led to major species decline, there were board members un- See EDITOR, page 9 ascertain “where birds reside in even extinction in some cases. decided on the issue, they might the winter, which for many spe- The Greenbelt area is part of cies is a very different place than a circle centered in Bowie. The where they spend the summer,” first count for this region was in The Greenbelt News Review said John Stith, who acted as 1972. In addition to PGAS, the the coordinator for the Greenbelt Patuxent Bird Club is involved Seeks Applicants for Editor area this year for the first time. in this count. “We normally find The ideal person will be a city resident, familiar with the com- ARBACH MATT BY PHOTO He is a board member of the about 100 species in the entire munity. She or he will be a strong writer and editor capable of Prince George’s Audubon Society Bowie circle on count day,” says John Stith (coordinator) and (PGAS) which is one of the orga- Stith. producing consistent and highly readable copy working within a Jamie Jorgensen (first-time team. While previous editorial or newspaper experience is a plus, nizers for this count. He cited the Information gathered on the volunteer) participate in the example of the chimney swift, count will be available to orni- common sense, an eagle eye, good person-to-person skills and a annual January 1 bird census. can-do attitude are primary. which nests here in summer and thologists, land managers and the The successful candidate will be conversant with modern tech- spends the winter in South Amer- public. Said Stith, “many con- nology, particularly as it applies to printing, including familiarity ica. Of special interest to this servation plans and land protec- with graphics, spreadsheets, camera-ready copy and file manage- What Goes On count are the 17 duck species tion efforts stem from systematic ment; will be comfortable working in a peer situation with a mix that have a presence at Greenbelt counting of bird populations.” of volunteers and paid staff and adept at addressing groups of Monday, January 8 Lake each year. Factors such as Climate effects are evident from citizens and city businesses and government to express the paper’s 8 p.m., Council Meeting, weather patterns and ice condi- the data collected. “The ranges of message. Municipal Building tions will determine which spe- many species have been shrink- The Greenbelt News Review is a worker cooperative. This Tuesday, January 9 cies will be observed. Said Stith, ing as the edge of their range position is part time, approximately 16 hours per week and on 5:30 to 7 p.m., Coffee with “we get to see one piece of the becomes too hot or dry, while puzzle,” adding the information the food supply or habitat they a schedule aligned with newspaper publication. This will gener- the Chief, New Deal Café gathered “to study the health of need isn’t found in other places,” ally include office hours and some evening work Tuesdays and Wednesday, January 10 Wednesdays.

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