Biggest News In Links
Politics
Family of man paralyzed during traffic stop settles lawsuit with Prince George’s Co.
The family of a Prince George’s County, Maryland man, paralyzed in a traffic stop in 2019, reached a multimillion-dollar settlement in a police brutality lawsuit.
The $7.5 million payout is the second-largest payout the county has ever made for a police brutality claim, according to the family’s lawyers.
Prince George’s County officials, students address rising youth crime
Prince George’s County high school students and law enforcement officials discussed the county’s rising youth crime in a public hearing at Tuesday’s county council meeting.
The hearing included several law enforcement leaders such as state’s attorney Aisha Braveboy, county police chief Malik Aziz and county sheriff John Carr. The officials gave presentations about youth crime and then answered questions from local high school students.
Pilot Labor Agreement Bill Passed
Prince George’s County Council passed a bill to add entry-level construction positions for residents in an effort to fight high county-wide unemployment rates.
The bill, passed on February 14, is just the first step of many in strengthening the wealth and wages of the county, according to District 8 Councilmember Edward Burroughs III, who sponsored the bill.
South County Dems Swear In New Club Leadership
On March 21, new officers were appointed to lead the South County Democratic Club (SCDC) at the Forest Heights Municipal Center.
With Clerk of Court Mahasin El-Amin presiding, Courtney Finklea Green was sworn in as president, Forest Heights Council member Troy Barrington Lilly as vice president, Helen Bearden as corresponding secretary and Mary McIver as recording secretary. Mirinda Jackson will continue serving as club treasurer and Laverne Poteat Scott will continue serving as parliamentarian.
“It is a new day for the South County Democratic Club and we are on the move,” Finklea Green said following her swearing-in.
Preserving a powerful legacy in a county transformed by Black people
When a teenage Joan Kelly Crowder stepped through the double doors of Fairmont Heights Junior-Senior High School for the first time, in flat black shoes and a burgundy empire dress, she knew she was home.
Greeted by the smells of home-cooked food, the iron and hair grease of fresh press and curls and the newness of her classmates’ clothes, Crowder felt free to be herself in this all-Black space in a majority-White county. It was 1964, and although racial tension still simmered from the fallout of school desegregation, here, the halls were filled with children whose families had built an early Black enclave in a county Black people would transform.
Prince George’s County Public School
Washington Informer Hosts Competitive 2023 County Spelling Bee
With a crowd of more than 300 family members, teachers and special supporters, 25 students competed for the title of winner at the 2023 Prince George’s County Spelling Bee presented by The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities, hosted at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on March 17.
Eighth grader Lesly Hernandez Martin walked away as the champion and will be granted automatic entrance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Share your input on the next CEO by Friday!
Share your thoughts about what you would like to see in the next Chief Executive Officer for Prince George’s County Public Schools.
This short survey is designed to gather your input on the characteristics needed for an effective superintendent. The survey is conducted by the CEO search firm; all responses are anonymous and confidential.
The survey closes Friday, March 31 at 5 p.m.
Health
Prince George's County council addressing nurse-patient ratios
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — A Prince George's County Council member recently introduced legislation aimed at creating a county-wide standard to address nurse-patient ratios.
Gail Kingman, a registered nurse with decades of bedside experience, says her daily reality at the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center in Largo, Maryland is having 33 patients to tend to, with only three nurses on the floor.
Legislation provides $900K for new PG County behavioral health clinic
Easterseals DC MD VA will launch a new community behavioral health clinic serving Prince George’s County with funding provided by the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed by President Joe Biden, the organization announced Wednesday.
The clinic will provide mental health services to underserved populations, including the uninsured and underinsured, low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities.
Biden won't veto GOP measure terminating the Covid national emergency
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden doesn't plan to veto a GOP-sponsored resolution that would terminate the Covid emergency declared in 2020, two sources told NBC News.
The Senate passed the Republican-sponsored resolution in a 68-23 vote Wednesday. Nearly two dozen Democrats and independents who caucus with them voted with Republicans in favor of the resolution to roll back the emergency declaration. The resolution needed only a simple majority to pass.
The measure would terminate the national emergency that former President Donald Trump declared in March 2020 at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
Long Covid Patients More Likely to Have Gastrointestinal Problems, Study Finds
Stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, bloating — these are symptoms frequently reported by people with long Covid.
Now, a large new study reports that Covid patients were significantly more likely to experience gastrointestinal problems a year after infection than people who were not infected.
The study, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, compared medical records of 154,068 Covid patients in the Veterans Health Administration system with about 5.6 million patients of similar age and other characteristics who had not contracted the coronavirus. Covid patients were 36 percent more likely to have long-term gastrointestinal problems that they did not have before their infection, with 9,605 of them experiencing issues affecting the digestive system, intestines, pancreas or liver.
Thank You for reading!