The towns of Cheverly and Bladensburg are neighbors that sit about a mile apart from each other but the separation caused by the federally owned Baltimore-Washington Parkway is far from being the biggest divide between the two After going ahead with the attempt to annex the land where an old hospital used to operate the town of Bladensburg is now being sued by Cheverly for $40 million with the town asking a judge to issue an injunction and put a stop to the annexation process “Given that no one is supporting Bladensburg this is intentional,” said Cheverly Mayor Kayce Munyeneh She said whether it’s out of spite or jealousy Bladensburg is trying to steal or blow up one of Prince George’s County’s biggest projects — turning the old Prince George’s Hospital Center into a bustling residential and retail development “We have the actual access to the property We are literally contiguous to it,” Munyeneh said That’s one of the reasons a lawyer for Prince George’s County warned last year that efforts by Bladensburg to annex the land were likely illegal the developers have been working with Cheverly for years with the assumption this piece of land would eventually become part of Cheverly They have called Bladensburg’s efforts which have not included the development team’s participation Bladensburg Mayor Takisha James told the town “stands firmly behind the fairness and legality of the annexation process.” “We remain committed to upholding the principles of transparency and equity in all our actions and will not engage in divisive rhetoric or inflammatory exchanges to sway the whims of the court of public opinion,” James said in an emailed statement James said she believes the town has acted “reasonably and in a good faith and business-like manner.” “Our focus continues to be on serving the best interests of all residents and creating opportunities that benefit the entire community—not just a select few,” James said Town leaders there have long maintained they have the legal right to do what they’re doing “There’s many ways where this can end but it doesn’t end very well for Bladensburg,” Munyeneh said “When you continue to do something that everyone has asked you to stop doing it’s hard to maintain good relationships.” Cheverly said the “economic harm intentionally caused by this illegal conduct by the Defendant will be in excess of at least Twenty Five Million Dollars ($25,000,000.00) to the Plaintiffs and such conduct is being conducted with malice and the Plaintiffs will seek Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00) in punitive damages.” She said that number was derived by estimates about how much revenue the town stands to lose through delays caused by this legal process she said Bladensburg could be on the hook for further legal fees as well “When I say that there is no one supporting Bladensburg It’s not clear when a Prince George’s County Circuit Judge will move to rule on the injunction request which would force Bladensburg to pause efforts to take control of the site Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area John has been with WTOP since 2016 but has spent most of his life living and working in the DMV covering nearly every kind of story imaginable around the region He’s twice been named Best Reporter by the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association When Dawn Crothers, owner and creative director of the event rentals company Something Vintage set out to renovate the 1960s split-level Cheverly home that she bought with her husband and their two kids in 2017 she says she thought about what she brings to any design decision: bright “For the kitchen,” says Crothers “I knew I wanted a big light pink island with a tambour-style front for entertaining We make homemade pizza every Friday and the kitchen is the center of where my husband Zach and I entertain.” Crothers also knew she wanted a pastel rainbow tile backsplash but—no surprise she says—she couldn’t find what she was looking for the couple made the tiles themselves at Something Vintage’s pottery studio matching the colors of the company’s handmade plate collections The checkered result was just what she’d envisioned I needed a matching pink faucet from Grohe to go with the design.” Another highlight of the kitchen is the custom pendant lighting from Sazerac Stitches Crothers sourced much of the lighting from the New Orleans company A post shared by Something Vintage Rentals (@smthingvintage) “My husband loves to cook,” says Crothers “He got the appliances and cabinets he wanted and I got to pick out the rest.” The custom cabinets are solid white oak and finished with pink handles Crothers found on Etsy.  Other vibrantly designed spaces in the six bedroom include the kids’ bathroom and the powder room which Crothers updated with fun wallpaper; a den which features a black-and-white checkered floor; and the dining room with exposed beams and a colorful Murano glass chandelier from Italy Most of the furniture in the home—which is full of natural light thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows—is vintage “I can’t think of the last time I purchased new furniture to be honest,” says Crothers which she says came off a 1930s naval vessel a sofa she found on Facebook Marketplace in Delaware and chairs she picked up from various vendors she works with at Something Vintage Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016 she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that (7News) — The Town of Cheverly has filed two lawsuits against its neighbors in Prince George's County Cheverly's mayor said it is trying the Town of Bladensburg from annexing the old Prince George's County Hospital site Cheverly said it has long planned to redevelop the site with apartments One lawsuit claims Bladenburg violated public meeting law Another is seeking $40 million in damages Cheverly could incur from the delay or "complete demise of the project." "I know that we are going to be neighbors after this," said Kayce Munyeneh "So I want us to come to an amicable resolution without draining all our resources to pay attorneys: that is my ideal the Town of Bladensburg voted to annex the unincorporated land in Prince George's County Cheverly's mayor spoke at the meeting to try and get them to stop the action The Town of Bladensburg told 7News Wednesday that "It stands firmly behind the fairness and legality of the annexation process conducted by the Town Council We remain committed to upholding the principles of transparency and equity in all our actions and will not engage in divisive rhetoric or inflammatory exchanges to sway the whims of the court of public opinion." 7News also went to the Bethesda offices of the developer Urban Atlantic on Wednesday Cheverly said it has long worked with them on the redevelopment plans We also reached out to the Prince George's County Economic Development office Cheverly's mayor also said it's possible more lawsuits could be filed from different entities She said it's not just about the tax base "We’ve also had community meetings about 'how do we carry our Cheverly culture to the next side of town?' 'How do we make sure we keep this small town feel when we double the size of our town?'" she said It’s one of the biggest redevelopment projects in the works in Prince George’s County. Even the state of Maryland has put millions of dollars into the redevelopment of the old Prince George’s Hospital Center which is unofficially considered part of Cheverly The town’s borders stop at a fence line to the hospital property that will change once the old hospital site Plans even call for a handful of residential streets that dead end at the property line to extend directly into the rest of the town of Cheverly something developers behind the project have said has to happen Cheverly leaders said the only reason the town didn’t annex the site years ago was because the county advised against it so the redevelopment process would move faster the town of Bladensburg could move forward with a plan to annex the site instead The move has caught Cheverly and the county off guard and it would mean Hospital Hill would only be accessible from Route 202 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway Cheverly warned it will pursue legal action “It was always understood it was going to be part of Cheverly,” Cheverly Mayor Kayce Munyeneh said Munyeneh said the town has helped fund related surveys and studies “Cheverly has also been the community that has suffered the most from the hospital traffic and all the noise and the damages done to our homes,” Munyeneh said “It was always sort of understood we did the suffering when it was the hospital we will enjoy the benefit when it is a new development.” That’s not how leaders in the town of Bladensburg see it “You can’t take something from someone who does not have ownership of it,” Bladensburg Mayor Takisha James said there is no formal agreement for annexation with the town of Cheverly,” she added then we wouldn’t have proceeded down this path … It sounds like there may have been some conversations that we weren’t privy to.” it’s easier for Bladensburg to try to annex the land because it’s technically owned by the county’s Redevelopment Authority the developer behind the looming transformation “This project would actually help us with what many communities are facing across the nation as we try to address the housing crisis because it would provide space for us to consider things like new town homes or condominiums “This project would also benefit Bladensburg by giving us the space necessary to enhance our retail offerings.” James said she sees this as a way for Bladensburg to pull in more commercial development But one problem is the town’s borders stop about a half-mile away from the site and there are concerns about the legality of what Bladensburg is trying to do and unless they are planning on owning part of 295 we don’t really see how they can legally move forward,” Munyeneh said That echoes a letter the county executive’s office sent to Bladensburg on Friday which warned the plan annexes land “for no other purpose than to connect to the remote Hospital Site,” which sits on the other side of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway A letter from county attorney Rhonda Weaver also said the “area is arbitrarily included and bears no relation to the municipality other than to incorporate the Hospital Site.” And because the annexation line runs southeast down one single street before hitting the parkway Weaver’s letter also warned that the unincorporated neighborhood that would be surrounded by the newly-annexed property falls under the definition of an enclave the county is raising questions about procedural maneuvering to get to this point “We have followed the letter of the law in this process,” she said but I just don’t agree with that assessment.” the developers behind the project reiterated their desire to become part of Cheverly and the resulting court fight it would create could tank the development or make it much more expensive and I hope that we’re able to work it out so that we can invite development to Prince George’s County,” Munyeneh said She also said a vote to go forward will be costly for Bladensburg and its taxpayers “You could save your town a whole lot of money,” Munyeneh said in reference to James “We could certainly save a whole lot of money on legal resources It wasn’t discussed with our neighbors Town leaders in Bladensburg were set to move forward with the plan at a meeting Monday night in order to give residents more time to provide feedback The town of Bladensburg met Thursday night to listen to residents about the possible annexation of an area known as Hospital Hill in Prince George's County (7News) — The town of Bladensburg voted Thursday to annex an area known as Hospital Hill in Prince George's County following a battle with Cheverly Residents from Bladensburg and Cheverly are battling one another over the unincorporated land where the old Prince George's County Hospital sits Cheverly said it has spent time and years working with the county on the redevelopment plan Mayor Kayce Munyeneh of Cheverly spoke to voice her opposition to the move The town also gathered before and took a bus over to Bladensburg but only one representative from Cheverly was let in The site calls for 1300 plus new homes including townhomes and apartments as well as a 70-room hotel and 40,000 square feet of retail space Prince George’s County economic development arm said: “We are aware of the Town of Bladensburg’s interest in annexing the Hospital Hill site in Cheverly we have concerns about any municipality annexing a site where significant redevelopment is already underway.” The mayor of Cheverly isn’t ruling out legal action if Bladensburg goes through with the annexation Events are typically approved within 24 hours The Hyattsville Wire reserves the right to reject events submitted not on or around the Route 1 corridor Come join us for a night of incredible music as Bill Kirchen takes the stage to perform a mix of classic Bob Dylan songs and his own original tunes This in-person event will be held at the Cheverly American Legion Post 108 so grab your friends and get ready for a memorable evening of live music This “Titan of the Telecaster” will perform his originals of Country Deiselbilly and Rock-n-Roll and play covers of Bob Dylan As a matter of fact Bill was in the audience when Dylan went electric Dinner at 6 with food truck from Para Hita For more info and tickets go to: www.the108musicseries.com Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email © 2025 The Hyattsville Wire | All Rights Reserved | news@hyattsvillewire.com The development team caught in the middle of an annexation battle between two Maryland towns is clearly irked by the new drama and isn’t mincing words about how it wants this sudden situation to play out part of the development team of Urban Atlantic and Hometeam5 said what Bladensburg is doing in terms of its annexation effort of the old Prince George’s Hospital site goes against everything they’ve spent years working on “The development team crafted its winning bid to redevelop the former Prince George’s County Hospital site around the idea of the site evolving into a town square in the heart of Cheverly,” Porcari said “It has always been our intention to make this project the beating heart of Cheverly.” The project’s current timelines expect more than a thousand new homes to go with brand-new retail and a hotel which will all be within a short walk of the Cheverly Metro Station The $500 million project is expected to be completed in 2028 Porcari said they’ve been working with a long list of civic groups to get everyone in Cheverly on board with the plans “From the issuance of the RFP and the development of this team’s winning response our efforts have been focused on assuring that Cheverly Hill will be an integral and valued complement to the town of Cheverly,” Porcari said How would the project fit into the town of Bladensburg instead it’s difficult to see,” said Porcari His team sent a letter this week to the town of Bladensburg that asked town leaders to not move further with this plan “The annexation of a proposed development project without any initial discussions with us is highly unusual,” Porcari said a sentiment that was also repeated almost to the word by Porcari’s developers in a letter to Bladensburg “There are fiscal and viability implications for both the jurisdiction seeking annexation and the development project being annexed,” the developers said in the letter But the town of Bladensburg isn’t buying it raising questions about the lack of a preannexation agreement between Cheverly and the developers “It seems far more likely that the true intent of the Prince George’s County government is to keep this project outside of any municipal incorporation to safeguard the developer’s financial interests by avoiding additional municipal taxes,” said John O’Connor with the town of Bladensburg “It is unrealistic to assume that any developer or business willingly forfeits control and takes on millions of dollars in extra taxes without substantial enforceable agreements to ensure mutual benefit The lack of preannexation agreements or binding terms indicates that this project was never intended to be part of Cheverly or any municipality Annexation would impose significant financial obligations on the developer which would likely be at odds with their priorities so Bladensburg wants a postannexation agreement to lessen the developer’s burden.” A public hearing is scheduled next Thursday in Bladensburg and a final vote on the matter could follow “The evidence strongly suggests that the county intends to shield the developer from municipal obligations while advancing its priorities often at the expense of Cheverly’s residents,” O’Connor said “Genuine intent to annex and integrate this project would be reflected in formal commitments and proactive measures — neither of which have materialized Cheverly has already promised it would take Bladensburg to court over the matter if it proceeds the Hyattsville Wire is the premier source for lifestyle news for Woodridge College Park and the greater Route 1 corridor in the suburbs of Washington Do you have a news tip you want to share? Email us!  Add your own event to our calendar here The town of Cheverly has sued the town of Bladensburg over its attempt to annex the site of a long-planned development In an 11-page lawsuit filed in Prince George’s County Circuit Court Cheverly officials are seeking to block Bladensburg from annexing the former site of the Prince George’s Hospital Center and seeking $40 million in compensation Since the hospital closed in 2021, the county has planned to turn the 44-acre site into a massive development with more than 1,300 apartments The county and a developer had long worked on the project with the assumption that it would eventually be annexed by Cheverly After Bladensburg began planning to annex the property 6 letter that the proposed annexation “does not comply with Maryland law” because it is not contiguous and adjoining to the town’s current limits Cheverly claims in its lawsuit that the annexation could hurt the redevelopment “The economic benefit of this development would be in the many multiple of millions of dollars which are now in substantial jeopardy as a result of this illegal action,” the town wrote in its complaint Bladensburg officials have long argued that they have the right to annex the site This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Help support the Wire through a one-time donation or as a monthly subscriber here You can now share your own news release on the Wire through a paid sponsored post. Submit your post here Canvas Apartments in Hyattsville to Open June 7 The Loft Coming to Former CAMPspace Location in Hyattsville Le Fantome Food Hall in Riverdale Park Has Closed Hyattsville Gets Two Artsy New Bus Shelters Near Route 1 Big Fish Brings Seafood to miXt Food Hall in Brentwood Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive Cartoon by Roz ChastCopy link to cartoonCopy link to cartoonLink copied The Heritage Foundation, near the Capitol, is a shrine to movement conservatism. Copies of the Washington Times, a conservative D.C. paper, sit on the marble countertop where visitors are checked in. Legendary donors have their names on the walls: Coors, of the beer fortune; Van Andel, of Amway. These are fat times at Heritage: under the organization’s president of the past three years, Kevin Roberts, contributions are up around twenty-five per cent. Conventional wisdom holds that the Republican coalition is composed of three wings: war hawks, free marketeers, and social conservatives. Roberts hails from the third wing. He started out as a historian of slavery, and then served as the president of a small Catholic college that became the inspiration for the 2019 Off Broadway play “Heroes of the Fourth Turning.” After a stint at the Texas Public Policy Foundation—a powerhouse political organization—he took over at Heritage. The way to fix America’s decline, Roberts writes in a new book, is through family policy: “Our North Star must be striving to once again make a middle-class lifestyle available to every hardworking American family on a single-breadwinner income.” Everything must be oriented around this goal, he writes, including government spending. It’s not that protecting the free market and national security don’t matter, he told me. “It’s a difference of degree.” The Trump campaign disavowed Project 2025, with a warning “to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign—it will not end well for you.” And yet many of the contributors may serve in the next Trump Administration. Roberts, in particular, is closely allied with Vance, whom he described to me as “the single most important person on family policy in the history of this country.” The family turn reflects the newly remade Republican Party, which is more working class and racially diverse than it has been in the past: according to early exit polls and surveys, Trump won significantly more Black and Latino voters in 2024 than he did in previous elections. These voters want to know that their politicians care about the high cost of living and housing. Rubio told me, “You can’t be the Little League coach if you’re unemployed and struggling to find work and raise your family.” “Careful—that’s going to be in a museum one day.”Cartoon by Liana FinckCopy link to cartoonCopy link to cartoonLink copied And yet there are fundamental differences that will never be resolved. Most progressives see the right to an abortion as an essential feature of family policy. “I don’t think any amount of social spending is going to make up for the loss of bodily autonomy,” Boteach said. “It is a miscalculation to think that you can whitewash anti-choice policies, stripping away people’s bodily autonomy and trying to dangle something in front of them to make them forget that.” And yet Levin sees family policy as the almost inevitable conclusion of the pro-life movement’s time in the political wilderness. Pro-life groups are realizing that they need to help people imagine a world without abortion. “In that sense, it’s not simply electoral—it’s much more cultural,” he said. “They have to show that, in saying they want a world where children are welcome and parents are valued, they have to mean it.” The young people who came to Washington to work in Republican politics used to be overwhelmingly libertarian. “Today, they’re much more likely to be traditionally minded Catholics and Protestants,” Levin said. Schweppe told me, “What do realignment conservatives want? They want to get married young, have kids, and have economic success.” In conservative circles, the advice is to go start a family—“it’s where ‘Go start your own business and be a job creator’ was fifteen years ago,” Schweppe said. “The way you’re trying to eat the chips quietly is far more annoying than just eating them.”Cartoon by Mary LawtonCopy link to cartoonCopy link to cartoonLink copied Some young staffers are also choosing to live in Maryland rather than in the expensive Virginia suburbs If you were to draw an informal map of where young conservative politicos go to have their families there would be a little crucifix over the Catholic hot spot of Hyattsville a Maryland suburb that was featured in Rod Dreher’s 2017 book “The Benedict Option,” about Christians in retreat from secular life The Protestant territory might be marked in Cheverly I recently rode the Orange Line out to Cheverly to meet Rachel Wagley a congressman from Utah who serves as the vice-chair of the House Republican Conference who wore a straw headband and tortoiseshell glasses with little makeup drove up in a white Honda Odyssey with three car seats jammed into the row behind the driver’s seat hilly streets and rows of densely packed houses to a playground that residents call Cheese Park in honor of its yellow holey climbing walls stood around chatting as their children played soccer The scene was a casual Who’s Who of Republican politics: Wesley Coopersmith who worked for the former House Speaker Paul Ryan and is now a lobbyist A former staffer for Kevin McCarthy lived in a house not far from the park pointing out the house known for collecting garden gnomes and the ones that are most competitive in the annual Christmas-decoration arms race It became clear that Wagley would be well qualified to work as a Cheverly real-estate agent; she could rattle off the number of kids living in almost every home we passed occasionally offering skeptical commentary about how this or that family planned to fit in a house with this or that square footage (Wagley said that Moore approved her participation in this piece on the condition that she relay all the “Cheverly pool drama” of Hill staffers jockeying for entry.) Wagley described herself as “theologically Lutheran and working for a Mormon.” She recently had her fourth baby which she says she could do only because of her “uniquely awesome boss.” (“Congrats you’ve met your Mormon minimum,” Wagley recalled Moore telling her originally moved to Cheverly because the houses were affordable A group of older women have started a stoop story time where they read to kids in their front yards “Every barbecue is more people than my wedding but fortunately everyone’s under the age of seven,” Wagley said A notable feature of the scene is the exceptional level of female professional achievement This tracks with the rest of the family-policy world: Vance’s wife an Alabama senator who recently introduced bipartisan legislation to make child care more affordable and available sent her kids to day care so that she could go to law school who has been a strong proponent of family policy in the Senate a woman he met when they were both Supreme Court clerks and who was instrumental in overturning Roe v The women of Cheverly aren’t particularly invested in the trad-wife aesthetic who lives across the street from Wagley and makes all her own bread by way of explanation.) But they do reject the reigning paradigms of American parenting—especially the norms of intensive parenting among the highly educated professional classes Wagley described the path of the “customized child” in D.C and its suburbs: dual-income families who move to northern Virginia and have one or two kids (Wagley herself went to Harvard.) In a place like Cheverly there might not be tons of money floating around since the sort of women who are drawn there might go in and out of the workforce and they might also value their community and family more highly than their job a neighbor texted a group of Cheverly women that she was stepping out and asked them to watch her sleeping baby via a digital monitor while she was gone “That’s what’s countercultural about Cheverly,” Wagley said This is the life that pro-family conservatives seemingly want everybody in the country to have access to even in what appears to be a time of momentum for pro-family politics the Cheverly life may seem unrealistic for most people “The policies we’re fighting about are so funny,” she said a couple of months of maternity leave there—“that’s eight weeks these kinds of policies are “pushed by people who have such a small idea of what parenthood is.” When people talk about the right to an abortion they’re often talking about the right to choose the shape of their lives: to escape a bad relationship to pursue their dreams without an unplanned detour is also about choosing a vision of life: one in which people are bound by community children are welcomed into a world that is built for them we have to talk about it hand in hand with supporting low-income women who are faced with an incredibly difficult choice Pregnancy and the first year of having a child Republicans don’t often acknowledge the depth of what they’re asking these women to do.” “We’re asking something huge of women by saying abortion is off the table So we have to come in huge with options and opportunities for these women to thrive We have done a horrific job in envisioning and painting for women a life that’s achievable with children.” ♦ A long-ago crime, suddenly remembered A limousine driver watches her passengers transform The day Muhammad Ali punched me What is it like to be keenly intelligent but deeply alienated from simple emotions? Temple Grandin knows The harsh realm of “gentle parenting.”  Retirement the Margaritaville way Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Thank You for the Light.”  Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. space was used as an apartment in recent years ArtEasy was started by Anne Marie Stringer and Briana Cooper in Cheverly The business was based in a residential basement as Stringer said they struggled to find a commercial space to move the business to in Cheverly Stringer recently moved to South Baltimore and found the commercial space on Light St which closed in Cheverly at the end of last year held its Baltimore grand opening on January 25th Stringer spent a couple months renovating the space into an art studio “The vision of the studio is a space where anyone feels comfortable doing arts or creating,” Stringer told SouthBMore.com She wants to avoid any stigma for those who don’t have formal training or those who don’t feel they are good at art “Come in and do an ugly painting if that’s what you want,” she joked and that there are separate areas and materials for children and adults customers can stop by for “drop-in hours” to work with clay on a pottery wheel ArtEasy offers “School’s Out Camps” for local students with dates coming up for Spring Break in April “Art Play Saturdays” for young children It also has “Post-School Shenanigans” hours on Wednesdays and Fridays and “Teen Time” on Thursdays from 5pm to 7pm The studio is available to be rented for birthday parties and events The team at ArtEasy can help plan out custom art and craft projects for the parties Stringer said she’s “happy with the support” they’ve received in South Baltimore and has been surprised by the amount of children in the area Founder and Publisher of SouthBMore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, dog lover, Little League coach, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com, follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin, and Instagram at PizzaChannelKevin @2021 - All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign The town of Bladensburg has dropped an attempt to annex the site of a long-planned development Bladensburg agreed to drop its attempted annexation of the former Prince George’s Hospital Center The county has long worked to turn the 44-acre site into a massive development with more than 1,300 apartments Bladensburg officials said they were satisfied that the town would have input into the project “Our intent is not to hinder development but to ensure that Bladensburg has a voice in a project that will have lasting positive regional impacts,” said Bladensburg Mayor Takisha James in a statement The town of Cheverly said in a statement that the two towns had made “a significant step forward” in addressing their concerns Get important news about your town as it happens Get the top stories from across our network Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from daily updates The son of popular musician Donnel Floyd, Sr has been identified as the 40-year-old man who was killed in a motorcycle crash on Tuesday afternoon in Prince George's County 10 to investigate a reported motorcyclist down in Cheverly Investigators say that Floyd was riding through the intersection of Landover Road and Cheverly Avenue when Floyd's motorcycle collided with an SUV The Clinton resident was treated and pronounced dead shortly after the crash The SUV driver remained at the scene and was uninjured It is now being investigated by the Prince George's County Police Department was known and renowned for his love of motorcycles and was an active member of the biking community throughout the DMV His page is also littered with photos of his beloved Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R "You passed away having fun doing what he loved," friend Tony Tee posted on Facebook lost another good friend and brother figure "Man he took me under his wing when I got my bike bro," another friend commented under Tee's post The cause of the crash remains under investigation Want breaking news in the DMV as it happens, or want to contribute? Join the DMV All Incidents Facebook group A woman killed in an early morning crash in Maryland has been identified Prince George's County Police are investigating the fatal strike while walking along Landover Road near 55th Avenue Officers responding to the scene found Doswell suffering from traumatic injuries in the northbound lanes Police say the driver involved stayed on site and was not hurt The case remains under investigation by the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit Want breaking news in the DMV as it happens, or want to contribute? Join the DMV All Incidents Facebook group. Scattered thunderstorms are expected Monday afternoon and evening. Some may become severe with large hail and high winds. TRACK RADARMaryland man arrested after 4-year-old girl accidentally shot herself with ghost gunby Katie Bourque & Lianna Golden Maryland was arrested on multiple firearms offenses after a 4-year-old girl was shot according to Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) officials officers arrived at the 6400 block of Landover Road in Cheverly After the victim was found with a single gunshot wound she was taken to a local a hospital to be treated for injuries that are not considered to be life-threatening According to a preliminary police investigation the victim was playing hide-and-seek when she found a loaded gun under a bed The young girl accidentally discharged the weapon and was shot in the arm Thomas and 19-year-old Lavar Hunter were arraigned in Superior Court for the District of Columbia on one count of first-degree felony murder while armed in January Thomas was later released to home confinement and electronic monitoring The court case is ongoing and is set to reconvene on June 8 Attorney's Office why and how Thomas was released We did not receive a response in time for this report one lawmaker told 7News that banning ghost guns in Maryland is not enough "I think we have to be diligent to make sure that then here’s a war right now across the country with the idea of any type of sensible gun legislation that we do on a local level anything we can do to make it harder for tragedies like this to happen," saidPrince George's County Council Member Krystal Oriadha Oriadha recently introduced legislation to crack down on access to ghost guns How do you even print any of the facets of a ghost gun You need the information to print through a 3D printer and so we’re making the information of just sharing the code and information illegal and imposing the maximum fine," Oriadha said "We know that that’s the issue right here in Prince George's County and an issue around the country." Oriadha said change starts long before the gun goes off: PGPD will hold a press conference on this case at headquarters located at 8801 Police Plaza in Upper Marlboro Get ready to fall in love all over again — "Love on the Spectrum" Season 3 just dropped on Netflix The new season, which follows young adults on the autism spectrum searching for love, premiered Wednesday, April 2, in honor of World Autism Awareness Day bringing with it everything fans love about the hit Emmy® Award-winning docu-series: heart and awkward-yet-sweet moments that will have you grinning through happy tears who continue their journeys to find connection and romance The author and neurodiversity expert guides cast members ahead of dates "With new daters, we concentrate on strengthening communication skills — creating reciprocity in conversation, active listening, asking questions that show your interest,” she tells Tudum it becomes more important to find some joy in learning what you bring to the table Netflix calls the show “warm-hearted” and “insightful,” but let’s be honest — it’s also one of the most wholesome things streaming right now Click here for more from Tudum on who you can expect to see this season. over the redevelopment of the old Prince George’s Hospital Center The dispute isn’t over the project itself but the potential traffic impact on what are now two quiet residential streets the old hospital property isn’t even in the town of Cheverly though annexation has been talked about since the project was announced When the redevelopment project is complete — toward the end of this decade — it’s expected to add thousands of new apartments and town homes and bring in about eight to 10 new retailers to a town where the 7-Eleven it considered a local coffee shop developers and town leaders met with residents to talk about where things stand with the project and to discuss the feedback they’ve gotten about the type of retailers that residents want to see there There was a heavy emphasis on a coffee shop and dining options with local businesses in other nearby cities mentioned as examples of what residents are seeking But at least some residents say there’s one part of the project they strongly disagree with plans call for the new project to connect directly to the town of Cheverly by taking two residential streets that currently come to a dead-end near the property line — Lockwood Road and Inwood Street — and opening up a direct connection into Cheverly that doesn’t exist right now Developers say doing that is crucial to getting the retail options residents want “We have heard in no uncertain terms now from many retail experts … that in order to say to a retailer, ‘Hey you’re going to benefit from those 3,600 households,’ we have got to have connections directly into the town,” said Caroline Kenney with real estate agency Urban Atlantic “We’re telling you what we’re hearing from the experts.” But during a question-and-answer period toward the end of Tuesday’s meeting resident after resident stood up and explained concerns about the traffic impact of the new development “It would be really dangerous for us because there’s going to be a ton of cars going in and out of the street,” said one 13-year-old named Colin who lives on Lockwood Road “Then you also have the crazy drivers speeding down the road which would ultimately be one of the biggest problems for us because then we wouldn’t be able to step in the street without being worried.” “We do enjoy living on our dead-end street and we do gather together frequently “We would love to see the bike trail It was pointed out on more than one occasion that when a hospital trauma center operated on the site residential access was never needed for emergency vehicles since the property is easily accessible from Route 202 Kenilworth Avenue and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway “Out of the 74 years I’ve lived here it was never feasible to make access to the hospital for emergency vehicles,” said another resident who spoke “Now they want to cut it through for a cup of coffee.” who conceded his street would not be impacted by the cut-throughs said he worried about jeopardizing the very amenities that residents have been craving “Making sure we have a successful development that gives us that type of locally focused retail is … a once-in-a-generation type of opportunity and I hope we don’t miss out on it,” he said Also arguing in favor of the cut-throughs was Cheverly resident and Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey who said opening up the streets and then closing them is easier than keeping them closed and deciding you want the connections later She said a similar decision was made by residents who live near National Harbor and that now they’ve come to regret it “If you don’t build them now and one day you decide to build them it will be impossible to plus just ridiculously expensive,” Ivey said “If you build them as part of the project and the town can put a barrier there if it chooses if it turns out … this wasn’t a great idea But if you haven’t built the street I think it’s going to be a big mistake.” “Building it now means it’s built This month a survey will go out to Cheverly residents asking them their opinions and Kenney noted that the results of it will play a big role in guiding the shape of the development going forward it is up to the town how the site connects into the town of Cheverly,” she said But they hammered home the idea that the decision will ultimately determine how attractive the development will be to any potential retailers A hit-and-run driver who killed a 64-year-old District woman in Prince George's County has been apprehend the Bladensburg Police Department announced The fatal hit-and-run remains under investigation Beltsville resident Jerome Michael Phillip Young was arrested on a warrant following the investigation into the fatal crash involving Susan Woodard earlier this month First responders were called to investigate a pedestrian hit-and-run shortly before noon on Tuesday Officers from the Bladensburg Police Department provided aid to Woodard until paramedics responded to rush her to an area hospital though he was identified as the driver and arrested on Friday He's being held at the Prince George's County Detention Center in Upper Marlboro Maryland Gov. Wes Moore made another trip back to the site of the old Prince George’s Hospital Center, a long shuttered hospital in the Cheverly area that looks over the rest of the D.C area from the highest vantage point in Prince George’s County While the old building still stands there today it’s in the process of demolition leading to what promises to be a massive redevelopment project this future city center on a hill will have a huge impact on the town of Cheverly and the governor stopped by to announce the state of Maryland was increasing its investment to make that happen “We’re absolutely thrilled about this project,” Moore told a gathering of local county and state leaders from the Cheverly area that the original $5 million investment coming from the state was bumped up to about $7.5 million “We did get a little more than we expected,” said Caroline Kenney managing director of public-private partnerships with Urban Atlantic “This actually allows us now to go to the private finance markets and say there’s clearly the level of public support for this project that’s needed.'” the dream is that thousands of people will be living in the new townhomes and apartments that are in the works nearly doubling the size of Cheverly’s population The state and the county have really risen to the occasion to say ‘We support this project.’ And it allows us now to go to private finance markets and raise the private side So this project could not be advancing the way that it is without the support,” Kenney added Residents and businesses that invest in the redevelopment will also be able to earn equity in the long run “This was a time when we had to invest in the big ideas and the things that could have not just lasting impact intangible impact in communities,” Moore said It’s not just about economic development Kenney said the influx of cash will help the building aspect continue seamlessly in the years ahead “It allows us to not miss a beat from the time that we stop the demolition,” she explained “We can roll right into starting the first vertical buildings on the site It couldn’t have happened otherwise.” the plan is to improve connections to not just the Cheverly Metro station which isn’t nearly as accessible to the site now as it will be but also to the various bike trails that run along the Anacostia River into D.C to ride his way back to Nationals Park to see the Os play “That was off the record,” before Moore could smile and say Cheverly, a small town which borders Bladensburg just off Route 1 and is home to the historic Publick Playhouse has chosen a new official town seal after removing an image of an historic plantation In 2020, the town council unanimously voted to get rid of its old seal, which had a drawing of the Mount Hope Plantation, and later hired the Neighborhood Design Center to come up with options for a new logo After a survey of town residents, the town decided recently on a clean spare design featuring the town name inside a circle and no iconography. Built in stages starting around 1832, Mount Hope was a tobacco plantation run by Fielder Magruder Jr., a member of the prominent Maryland family that includes William Pinkney Magruder, the erstwhile namesake of what is now Driskell Park in Hyattsville The 716-acre plantation was home to a dozen enslaved people in 1840, 18 in 1850 and 25 in 1860, some of whom may have lived in the Mount Hope Slave Quarters Ruin a historic site located just off Cheverly Circle Much of the property was later developed into the subdivision of Cheverly The town’s first mayor chose the image of Mount Hope for the seal The cost of changing the seal was offset by federal funds that paid for other budget items during the coronavirus pandemic We are not a small town in the middle of nowhere This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Threats of violence at a Prince George's County high school were proven to be unfounded but not before giving some administrators a scare on Tuesday morning Investigators were called in early on Sept 24 to Bladensburg High School on 57th Avenue to probe a reported threat of violence that was made by a group of students every threat is taken seriously," according to a spokesperson from the Prince George's County Police Department who confirmed that there was never a credible threat to the building the high school was temporarily put on lockdown until the building was cleared safely The nature of the threat was not disclosed by the police By all accounts, the 3-acre plot of land near the Cheverly Metro in Maryland is a dump. The only building on the site, a former recycling center, burned down in a two-alarm fire in 2019 There are mattresses, tires, construction debris, and piles that can be seen easily from Columbia Park Road in Cheverly. A lawsuit filed this month by the state of Maryland says there’s also lots of chemicals and fluids stored there with nothing stopping them from draining into nearby Beaverdam Creek That’s why the state is suing World Recycling Company the company that owns the Cheverly property alleging a long list of environmental violations that date back for years “They’ve allowed solid waste to accumulate in open dumps in Baltimore City and in Cheverly,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said in an interview with WTOP “in violation of the conditions that were set forth in a 2018 consent order” designed to correct past violations they’re operating without a permit.” The lawsuit said cleanup at the site after the 2019 fire largely stalled three years ago Inspections in 2021 and 2022 continued to show evidence the property was being used as an open dump inspectors noted hundreds of scrap tires and piles of waste and there were gaps in the fencing large enough for a truck to pass through The lawsuit alleges the Cheverly site is now being used as an illegal refuse transfer station and an open dump Brown said World Recycling has been operating that Cheverly facility without a permit since 2019 Nobody answered calls to a number for World Recycling and a voicemail box wasn’t accepting new messages The state is asking a Prince George’s County judge to fine the company $10,000 per violation per day “Collecting fines and penalties is just a part of it,” said Brown “I think perhaps as important or more is to get World Recycling Company into compliance with environmental standards so that we can protect the public health of the surrounding communities in Cheverly and Baltimore City.” you also protect the health of communities.” and its roughly 7,000 residents have a unique and proud community but their beloved hometown doesn’t have a downtown But there are plans to change that and bring much more Route 50 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway as they converge on the D.C even though the town does not have all of the amenities that many communities have Prince George’s County leaders stood in front of the old Prince George’s County Hospital Center it’s actually outside of the town’s boundaries — but maybe not for long Town leaders are talking about annexing the land as a massive redevelopment project gets started we weren’t annexing,'” Cheverly Mayor Kayce Munyeneh said But talks with county leaders about what the redevelopment of the property could bring turned that into a gentle “it makes sense” and then “it only makes sense that it’s part of our community and not just that we’re neighbors,” Munyeneh said The land the old hospital sits on is the highest point in all of Prince George’s County and the vision for the 44-acre property includes more than 1,100 new residential units — comprising apartments townhomes and senior living space — to go with restaurants outdoor space and other entertainment options These are all amenities that Cheverly currently lacks “One of the things we don’t have in Cheverly is a coffee shop,” Munyeneh said “We all walk to the 7-Eleven to get something to drink “I think this could be our downtown Cheverly restaurants and even a hotel are in the works and although it sits along Maryland Route 202 and right between two of the busiest highways in the region this won’t be a car-dependent development “Development plans for this project include direct trail connections to both the Anacostia Trail network and the Cheverly Metro Station,” Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said “It’s literally just a matter of having a path because it’s (the Metro station) less than a mile that way,” Munyeneh said pointing to trees along the border of the hospital’s property Cheverly is the most underused Metro in the entire station system.” Also important is the hill used by residents in the area for sledding Those who grew up in the area pointed out how important Hospital Hill was and how it is vital that future kids would still be able to count on using that hill for snow-day thrills Unique funding behind the project will bring huge investment possibilities Alsobrooks said that the redevelopment plan can become a national model for other localities to follow “It will allow our residents to take ownership in this location’s renewal,” Alsobrooks said There be a high percentage of minority participation in the redevelopment process, and some of the funding will be crowdsourced on platforms such as Crowdstreet “An astounding 40% of sponsor equity in this project will be targeted to minorities and local businesses and individuals,” Alsobrooks said That means tens of millions of dollars will be raised and invested by a mix of people and businesses regardless of whether they live there or are involved in construction “Typically those kinds of investment opportunities are only available to investors of a certain size,” said Caroline Kenney “Typically a local resident from the town of Cheverly would not have the opportunity to invest in a project like this because you need to be at a certain size and a certain threshold This is designed to lower that bar to make sure we’re able to pull in as many local and minority folks as possible.” The final details about how that will work — including how much money will be needed to become an investor — haven’t been worked out yet But it will only be open to county residents and businesses who then figure to make money off their investment like any other developer as someone does when buying stock in a publicly traded company “As the project makes money over time distributions are made” to the investors “Just like a return on investment typical to what people see when they invest in stock but they happen to be investing in their own backyard.” A lot of the behind-the-scenes work and planning are underway and the actual demolition of buildings and land could begin either later this year or sometime next year the entire project might take a decade or so to complete It is expected that the transformation will be well underway within four to five years A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued until midnight on Tuesday (7NEWS) — The town of Cheverly made history on Thursday when it swore in a Black mayor for the first time in the town's 90-year-history Kayce Munyeneh was sworn in as the new mayor of Cheverly on Thursday ALSO READ | Last patients moved from Prince George's hospital to new UMD Medical Center Cheverly, which is located in Prince George's County There are less than 7,000 residents in the small town Munyeneh says she plans to tackle inclusivity efforts and says her top three priorities are: It was a great season for the Cheverly Panthers is unique in the league that plays at the Cheverly Boys and Girls Club in Prince George’s County as five of its players are deaf or hard of hearing The Panthers reached their highest level Friday While they lost to the Cheverly Bruins 20-17 they expressed pride in their achievements respect for their coaches and teammates and looked forward to next season “You’re not going to win all of them You just got to accept that,” said Henry Congdon The coaches pointed out that Congdon learned some sign language this past season to better communicate with his deaf teammates “You have to figure out your own way of communicating The Panthers jumped to an early lead over the Bruins taking the lead in the fourth period and then closing it out but I’m still proud of myself,” said Kevin Kivitis none of our team has ever been to a championship game before the crowd got a little bit loud and I think that’s what threw us off a little bit But the other team played an excellent game We both brought our ‘A’ games today and they just happened to be the better team today,” said head coach Brandon Patrick A key to the team’s success is its interpreter Tavon Simms standing side by side the coaches using sign language to ensure that all the kids on the team know the plays the strategy and the coach’s directions “I’ve been speaking signs my whole life I like bridging the gap,” Simms said “I’ve had a lot of fun coaching the kids … at first I was here just to speak for the kids and the coach But I got involved with the coaching and I started having fun teaching them things I know from back when I was a kid playing basketball So I’ve really enjoyed it,” said Simms The gym was packed for the championship game and many came to see the Panthers — a team which has inspired the community “This is a wonderful team … they have a great time together And they’ve had to learn to communicate with each other … they’ve learned a lot about each other,” said Prince George’s County Council member Jolene Ivey Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here. © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. Whether anchoring the news inside the Glass-Enclosed Nerve Center or reporting from the scene in Maryland, Virginia or the District, Dick Uliano is always looking for the stories that really impact people's lives. Copyright © 2025 by WTOP. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. TRACK RADARMetro Police identify the suspect wanted in Cheverly Metro station sexual assaultby Jonathan Franklin (ABC7) — Metro Transit Police are currently investigating after a woman was reportedly sexually assaulted at the Cheverly Metro station the unidentified woman was sexually assaulted by a male suspect later identified as 44-year-old Abraham Berhanu Taddesse on the platform at the Cheverly Metro station on Thursday afternoon There were no other riders and/or witnesses in the area at the time of the assault boarded a train at the Cheverly Metro station and later exited Metro property at the Deanwood station MTPD officers located Taddesse a short distance from the Deanwood Station He was later identified and taken into custody RELATED:Hear why this new Metro campaign aims to 'STOP' harassment on all trains and buses The victim was transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation A warrant has been issued in Maryland for Abraham Berhanu Taddesse as he is being charged with First Degree Rape He is currently being held in DC pendingextradition