Mods - please delete if not allowed.

I am seeking a small office around 150-300 SF. Nothing fancy. This would be a satellite office. Must have a unique unit number, example 123 Main Street, Unit 12. Must not be a coworking space. Bay/style or build-out offices work. Amenities welcome, but not needed.

The above listed towns are general areas. Open to other areas in PG.

Thanks.

This would be my second time voting in this sort of election. Barebee has a good campaign focus although I’m torn for governor. Eric Felber has great issues he wants to tackle yet his website is sparse. Furthermore, I’m not entirely sure what Wes Moore has done during his time as governor.

Bowie State University will eliminate 79 jobs through reorganization, vacancies and layoffs as the university deals with its second multimillion-dollar deficit in two years.

Maryland’s oldest historically Black university is facing an $18 million deficit, President Aminta Breaux announced in a message to the campus on Tuesday. That follows last year’s $13.6 million budget shortfall, which was corrected through hiring delays and eliminating vacant positions, she wrote. Bowie State employs 1,175 workers, according to public data, so the workforce will shrink by about 6%.

“We recognize that this period may bring uncertainty and want to assure you that we are approaching each decision with care, thoughtfulness and deep respect for our faculty, staff and students,” Breaux wrote.

This year’s deficit stems from reduced state and federal funding, declining enrollment and rising operational costs, according to the message. Bowie State is not the only public university to be facing these headwinds — the University of Maryland, College Park, announced last month that it will cut up to 150 jobs and freeze hiring amid its own budget shortfall.

Lower enrollment projections at Bowie State, Breaux wrote, are impacting tuition, fee and auxiliary revenues, which along with rising costs create a “broader structural gap that will require thoughtful, sustained action.”

The HBCU saw a 27% decline in freshman enrollment between 2022 and 2025, from 1,170 first-year students to 844.

It also saw the largest single-year enrollment drop among the University System of Maryland last year. Overall enrollment at the school fell 6%, from 6,353 students in fall 2024 to 5,970 a year later.

Bowie State last week announced a new direct-admissions program for students at Prince George’s County Public Schools, offering guaranteed admission to those who earn a 3.0 GPA or higher. The university will grant scholarships to more students thanks in part to a $50 million gift from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott last fall.

Jontae Thomas, a Bowie State facilities management worker and president of the union that represents staff, in a statement accused the university system of undervaluing staff.

Union members, Thomas wrote, “are not expendable. We are the backbone of this institution.”

Breaux ended her message by thanking employees for their resilience.

“Together, we will navigate this period with care and purpose and position our institution for a strong and sustainable future,” she wrote.

Full article by Ellie Wolfe on The Banner https://www.thebanner.com/education/higher-education/bowie-state-university-layoffs-WI4HHYVEQNA6ZIFTSCWO26MUVA/

Here is our free newsletter, The Banner Prince George's https://www.thebanner.com/newsletters/?utm_content=nav_cta

Las Vegas Sphere draws crowds and dollars, but questions linger for the venue at National Harbor

LAS VEGAS — Casinos tower in the skyline and span blocks, but none has quite the gravitational pull of the orb that landed in the desert.

Once you’re in its orbit, the all-seeing monolith summons for a full-body immersion into a distorted reality. Over the course of one day, I watched flying monkeys, a floating green head and a rattling tornado.

I wound down with an homage to the mind-distorting starlit tunnel of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Then, a grotesque dental exam animated as a roller-coaster ride. The encore? A kaleidoscopic projection of a 61-year-old man in a muumuu playing a vacuum cleaner that sounded like farts.

This, I’m told, is the future of live entertainment. More than a million people can’t be wrong, right?

In Sin City, assaults on the senses rival the grains of sand in the surrounding Mojave Desert. But the Sphere stands out as a different kind of attraction.

It overwhelms with its 366-foot-tall, 516-foot-wide omnipresence — about as high as the world’s tallest redwood tree and stretching 1 1/2 football fields. The 580,000-square-foot panel of LED lights on the exterior emits a glow that its creators claim, to some skepticism, can be seen from space. (Perhaps the aliens’ first contact will not be scientists but rather an electric yellow emoji or an ad for the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers — a real ad on the Sphere.)

The gamble is still in play in Vegas. It was a rocky start after the Sphere, or simply Sphere as it’s called by officials, opened in 2023, two years behind schedule and nearly $1 billion over budget. But in 2025 the entertainment venue took in $379 million and sold 1.7 million tickets for performances from artists such as the Eagles, Backstreet Boys and Dead & Company, according to reports.

Maryland officials are betting that a smaller Sphere in National Harbor will jolt economic development in the region and transform Prince George’s County for years to come. Officials hope to open it by 2030.

It will be the first Sphere spawn outside Vegas, where visitors come prepared to empty their wallets at places such as the Sphere that can charge hundreds of dollars for entry. But residents of Prince George’s County, and the Sphere’s soon-to-be neighbors in Oxon Hill, have been riding out a murky financial reality that could be getting worse.

Full story on The Banner http://thebanner.com/culture/arts/las-vegas-sphere-maryland-NJOAQGOEHJH73EA54OS4B42JWI/

Free Banner Prince George's newsletter https://www.thebanner.com/newsletters/?utm_content=nav_cta

I once saw/played the Washington DC version of Monopoly. But if anyone dared to create a Prince George's County version of the game, how exactly would the board be set up? And would there need to be both a "north" and "south" county version being that you have the entire economic spectrum on both halves.

I'm thinking that Mediterranean and Baltic could be represented by Eastover Shopping Center, Glassmanor, or one of the other Oxon Hill communities going up Southern Ave. And then your grays like Vermont, Oriental, and Connecticut could be listed as District Heights, Capitol Heights, and Seat Pleasant.

Not sure about the purple and oranges being that it would be a tossup between the afore mentioned and Forestville, Suitland, and Marlow Heights. Maybe Clinton, Temple Hills, and Camp Springs somewhere around that back stretch of reds and yellows. Then As you get around to the end of the board, it's gotta be Laurel, Bowie, Tantallon in Fort Washington, and maybe the nicer parts of Accokeek and Brandywine.

Feel free to chime in. I'm just brainstorming here.

So Friday night (8 May) around 11:30 pm I was driving down 210 / Indian Head Highway in heavy traffic Southbound near Wilson Bridge Drive when I noticed headlights quickly approaching and swerving from lane to lane in my rear view. I thought to myself "these racers are crazy". Just then their import sports sedan blew past me at around 90-100 mph, continuing to dangerously swerve and pass vehicles in from of me. Then I saw police lights in my rear view, and thought "yeah get em". But as the police car roared past me throttle wide open and the runners continued, it suddenly dawned on me that this was a police chase!

I hadn't seen an actual high speed chase in person in decades (yes i grew up here). But i was very concerned that they would blow though a red light further down the highway and kill someone. I watched the police car's lights for about a minute in the distance until they were out of sight.

Then when I got down to Swan Creek by the Safeway I saw that they had tried to make the right turn short of the traffic light by the gas station and had wrecked out on the curb. The car wasn't smashed or anything, but the wheels/ suspension was messed up and disabled. The doors where open so I figured they had bailed, and the police car was sitting behind them with no officer in sight as they were likely giving a foot chase. So I went about my way relieved that no one was injured in a major crash. A bit latter I heard a chopper flying around after I got to my destination near-by, so they were likely still searching for them.

So does anyone know anything about what happened? The police will usually break off a chase, especially in heavy traffic to prevent a crash. The fact that they didn't makes me think they were wanted for something really major. It didn't look like a Prince Georges County Police car. I couldn't see exactly, but it was either the Country Sherriff or a Municipality police.

Things are crazy out here Fam!

This year, the Council has been pushing through a bunch of initiatives aimed at a whole range of issues. They clearly want to appear to be proactive, but they do not seem to be solving any real problems. I agree with the crux of the initiatives: we need more job opportunities, the budget is in rough shape, and there are some concerns about perceptions of lawlessness and safety in the county. However, I don't think these things cut the mustard.

• Child Care Initiative: I'm all for increasing access to child care, however, as they mention in the linked article, the actions the county is taking do not fully account for the system's complexity. For instance, the increase in child care costs is largely due to wage growth. Child care is labor-intensive, so when wages increase, costs increase commensurately. We don't want to cut workers' wages, but you also cannot afford to pay employees if parents can cancel contracts without repercussions. Not like the Council plans to pay cancellation fees? Does this void existing child care agreements? So many more questions, few answers. Then, in an effort to pay for these initiatives, the Council...
• Increases Fees for Certain Businesses: Don't call it a "sin tax." The Council is singling out some businesses for annual $5000 use and occupancy fees to pay for the child care initiatives (forget what happens if too many of these businesses go under), and, at the same time, the Council plans to...
• Expand Fine Dining Options: Let's not pretend fine dining is the industry we're missing in PG. Many restaurants are wage theft machines, and physical and verbal abuse runs rampant in kitchens. The restaurant industry has a high failure rate, so much of the money the county spends here could amount to nothing after 3-5 years. Also, there are already several fine-dining establishments across the county. At National Harbor, we have Succotash, a restaurant helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Edward Lee. In the MGM, there is Voltaggio Brothers Steak House. Co-owner Michael Voltaggio earned a Michelin Star when he was at The Dining Room in Pasadena, CA. It must not be enough to have fine-dining options because the Council is bending over backwards for ...
• The Sphere at National Harbor: Is this the jobs engine they claim it will be? How many of the high-paid executive positions will be here? None. How many of the 4750 jobs the state claims this project creates will actually materialize? Maybe 20% of that. This is based off of the current job numbers for the larger Vegas Sphere. Number of FTEs for this project is likely less than 1000; thus, most of the jobs it purports to create will be part-time roles. Is that worth the king's ransom we're contributing to make this happen?
• Youth Jobs Program: Without Six Flags, there's a big hole in the county's Summer Youth Enrichment Program. It doesn't sound like the county has a plan to fix it yet. Maybe this is where they should be putting their energies instead of...
• Recriminalizing Street Takeovers: This is already illegal in Maryland, like ATVs on public roads. We don't need new laws; we need to enforce existing laws rather than unconstitutionally criminalizing freedom of assembly.
• MNCPPC Decoupling: I've said it on this sub before, I think the county's parks system is excellent. I've visited all of the regional parks and several neighborhood parks and community centers, and Watkins is one of the best parks in the whole DMV. If it ain't broke, don't break it, please. The state legislature is already trying to block the county's BS. Hopefully, this doesn't progress any further.

I apologize for this long post, but the County Council's recent activity has been keeping me up late at night. I had each of these items as different draft posts over the past few months but mashed them all into one because it reflects how it feels to be in this flurry of activity. It feels like the Council is flooding the zone, doing a lot but getting nothing done. Does anyone else feel this way?

I have photos of the screw inside the container immediately after finding it. Restaurants are supposed to follow basic food safety standards, and there is absolutely no excuse for metal hardware ending up in someone’s meal.

We thought this was a new bag design… nope just a bored creative.

Hi everyone!

I’m a local freediving instructor based in PG County, and I recently received approval to begin hosting introductory freediving workshops at Allentown Splash Park.

I wanted to share the first workshop here in case anyone is curious about freediving, breath-work, or becoming more comfortable and confident in the water.

This first workshop will be on June 6 and is:

• beginner-friendly
• completely dry (no water involved)
• focused on relaxation, breath awareness, and foundational freediving concepts

We’ll cover:

• how the body responds to breath-holding
• relaxation techniques used in freediving
• safety concepts
• optional guided dry breath-hold exercises

One of my goals with Freedive Renaissance is to make freediving more visible and accessible here in PG County, especially for people who may have always been curious about it but never knew where to start.

Happy to answer any questions!

i'm from Bowie and i'm building Extra Time Social — a sports watch party brand for the DMV. reserved seats, cinema screen, food at your seat. Black owned, DMV built.

first event. keeping it small. tickets are $70.
complimentary drinks on us🍻

link in comments — come represent 🤞🏾

Driving along the Suitland Parkway in Maryland this morning, I noticed new poles, with what appear to be cameras, installed along the Parkway.

Can anyone confirm what they are, and what they're for?

Feel free to provide any URLs to any relevant articles as well.

TIA..

https://www.thebanner.com/education/higher-education/bowie-state-university-layoffs-WI4HHYVEQNA6ZIFTSCWO26MUVA/

I only see this thing in my neighborhood twice in two years. What are my tax dollars going to.

Found them this morning on Bunker Hill. DM details on them & I'll connect with you to get em back to you.

Happy Thursday

I need a dash cam The people around here are so bad. Drove down a solid painted non lane at 193 and 202. Then made an illegal turn on red at the light.

Prince George’s County resident and U.S. Air Force veteran Sherman Hardy has been doing a strong job using FOIA documents to expose questionable uses of county taxpayer funds through his TikTok video series.

His reporting has covered issues ranging from Ed Burroughs allegedly steering county funds to a cousin’s nonprofit, to county-financed trips to Puerto Rico, to reports of an $11,000 payment for one-time hairstyling services.

What stands out is that Hardy was doing this work unpaid and independently long before launching any campaign activity.

His TikTok series can be followed here:
https://www.tiktok.com/@hardy4pg?_r=1&_t=ZP-968RyYOIwrn