WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 18 • February 16 - 22, 2023
The Polar Bear Plunge
Page 43
Prince George’s County Almost Tore Down a Playground to Put Up a Gas Station
How A Few Dedicated Citizens Intervened Kayla Benjamin Our Earth Climate and Environment Writer Every morning, 70-year-old Al Powell takes long walks on the Sligo Creek Trail, covering miles of wellpaved track alongside the burbling water. It’s an incredibly convenient place to walk for Powell: the trail and the creek run right past his home in Hyattsville, where he has lived since 1974. He and his wife, Geeta Powell, can see the path from
their backyard. Most days, the two sit next to each other on the swing bench set up on their back patio and watch folks run, walk and bike on the trail, which sits within Parklawn Park. The daily commitment to—and delight in— his neighborhood’s outdoor space gave Powell cause for alarm when he found out about a proposal to build a 16-pump gas station less than 600 feet from his back door.
PLAYGROUND Page 26
5Community members fought to protect this playground after learning about a zoning proposal for a 16-pump Royal Farms gas station that would have required its removal. From left: Jeff Cronin, Al Powell, Paul Rowe. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
Impending McPherson Square Park Encampment Closure Sparks Criticism
D.C.’s Progressive Firefighters Association: The Fight for Fairness Continues
Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
James Wright WI Staff Writer
As the National Park Service (NPS) prepares to remove the homeless encampment at McPherson Square Park earlier than originally planned, many of the people who had been living there for several months remain hard pressed to secure new accomodations. This has especially been the case for voucher holders who can’t navigate a heavily backlogged system to access the District’s affordable housing stock. Some residents of the encampment, like a woman who goes by Umi, say that Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage has worsened matters by mischaracterizing those who’ve been living in McPherson 5Over the last few months, McPherson Square Park became the District's largest encampment after the D.C. government initiated the Coordinated Assistance and Square Park and lying about the help given so far. “Turnage said that we’re all service resistant, but there Resources for Encampments pilot program, also known as CARE. NPS estimates that
On February 21, 1984, Tawanna Robinson and the rest of her fellow firefighters received a call about a fire at a house on Myrtle Avenue, NE. The firefighters came to the house to see that the windows and the doors had fire spewing out. Robinson received information that children were trapped in the burning house. Even though she was a rookie in the District’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (EMS), she rushed in to find a two-year-old boy, Robert Thomas, hiding under a bed in the rear bedroom. Robinson grabbed Thomas and navigated her way through the burning house to safety on the outside. She performed CPR on Thomas and he was transported to
nearly 80 people currently live at the encampment.
ENCAMPMENT Page 49 (Ja’Mon Jackson/ The Washington Informer)
FIREFIGHTERS Page 48
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