Greenbelt police get grant for truck safety programs

Military news

Air Force Capt. Maurice A. Scales has earned the Air Medal, which is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the U.S. armed forces, has distinguished himself or herself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.

The medal is primarily intended to recognize those individuals who are on current crew member or non-crew member flying status which requires them to participate in aerial flight on a regular and frequent basis in the performance of their primary duties. Awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or heroism or for meritorious service.

Scales participated in combat operations over Afghanistan and Iraq in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, respectively. He flew combat battlespace control missions aboard the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft while assigned to the 963rd Airborne Expeditionary Air Control Squadron in Southwest Asia, Persian Gulf region.

Scales is an instructor navigator regularly assigned to the 963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Okla. He has served in the military for five years.

Scales graduated in 1998 from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, and received a bachelor’s degree in 2002 from Xavier University in New Orleans, La.

Pick up your trash

The Greenbelt Police Department will participate in Litter Enforcement Week starting March 31 as part of the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative.

From March 31 to April 5, officers will actively monitor and enforce littering law violations such as illegal dumping, wind-blown litter from covered vehicles and littering in general.

The campaign is part of an initiative to reduce trash and increase recycling, education and awareness of trash issues in the watershed. Go tohttp:⁄⁄fergusonfoundation.org.

Volunteers are also needed for a Potomac Watershed cleanup 9 to 11 a.m. April 5. Join members of the Greenbelt Recycling and Environment Committee to remove litter and other debris from two sites in Greenbelt. Meet in the lower parking lot area of the Greenbelt Aquatic and Fitness Center, 101 Centerway, to clean Braden Field Stream, of meet behind the Springhill Lake Recreation Center, 6101 Cherrywood Lane, to clean up Springhill Lake Stream. Bring work gloves and wear comfortable clothing and boots or old shoes.

Call Greenbelt’s Public Works Office at 301-474-8004.

School goes greenwith fundraiser

Frances Fuchs Early Childhood Center in College Park has started a recycling program as a school fundraiser. Money collected will be used for in-house assemblies and performers who come to the school.

The school is collecting paper, phonebooks, magazines, newspapers, office and school papers, old mail and shredded documents.

‘‘We’ve been doing it in-house but we’re opening it up so anyone in the community can drop it off,” said Melynda Klein, parent professional educator at the school. ‘‘The first Saturday of the month we’re gonna have people helping getting stuff out of cars and telling them what they can and cannot drop off.”

The school has to reach a quota of two tons of recyclables per month in order to receive money.

‘‘So we’re trying to reach our quota of two tons and then some,” Klein said. ‘‘The more tons we have the more money we receive.”

The first collection date is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 5, however recyclable items can be placed anytime in the school’s recycling bin, located in the back of the school.

Call Melynda Klein at 301-572-0600.

Laurel Regional Hospital plans community events

The Laurel Regional Hospital will be holding events in the coming weeks that will educate the public, provide preventive care and give residents a chance to help others.

On Monday, a community forum will discuss Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a hard to treat form of staph. Guest panelists will discuss recent outbreaks of this form of staph in nearby communities, how to prevent the spread of the infection and how to identify an infection. The event will take place 6 p.m. in the J. Russell Jones Room at the hospital, located at 7300 Van Dusen Road. There is limited seating, so call 301-497-7914 to RSVP.

The hospital, in conjunction with the Laurel Lions Club and the American Red Cross, are holding a blood drive 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the J.R. Jones Conference Room.

Walk-ins are welcome, but scheduled appointments are given priority. To schedule an appointment, call 301-497-7914.

Laurel Regional Hospital is holding a free prostate screening 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 5. The screening will be on the fifth floor of the hospital. Patients will receive a laboratory test and clinical exam. The first 50 men to register will be eligible for the screening. To register, call 301-497-7914.

High Point High Concert Choir qualifies

High Point High School’s Concert Choir qualified for the Maryland State Choral Festival based on its performance during the Prince George’s County’s Choral Festival that was held during the week of March 3 at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville.

The various components that are evaluated during the festival include: vocal technique, presentation style, and decorum. High Point’s choir performed three selections at the most complicated level. They received the highest score attainable for their vocal performance of ‘‘The Word Was God” by Rosephanye Powell; ‘‘There Will Be Rest” by Frank Ticheli; and ‘‘My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” by Moses Hogan.

The choir has spent the school year concentrating on developing its vocal skills in music that covers a broad spectrum of genres that include classical, spiritual, gospel, and jazz literature. In February, the choir traveled to The Pennsylvania State University at the invitation of Dr. Anthony Leach to participate in an African-American Spirituals Workshop. Music teacher Ned Lewis won a grant from the Wolf Trap Educational Foundation. The grant is being used to hire two renowned clinicians to provide master classes and voice lessons to the choir students.

Artists needed for Riverdale Park Arts Festival

The Riverdale Park Arts Council is soliciting artists to reserve space at the upcoming Riverdale Park Arts Festival.

The festival will take place 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 4 at the Riverdale Park Town Center, 4600 Queensbury Road.

The arts celebration will include artists’ exhibits and sales, demonstrations, performances and more. The even will be outdoors so artists are required to provide their own table or tent to display their work.

Artists who reserve a spot before by April 4 must pay a $15 deposit that will be refunded they day of the festival. Artists who sign up after April 4 will not receive their $15 deposit back.

To reserve a spot, visit http:⁄⁄rpwiki.wetpaint.com⁄page⁄Art+%26+Culture.