Once Again, The Subject Is Slots

The subject of the first bill of the Prince George's County Council's 2009 legislative session deals with the same issue that dominated the 2008 General Assembly session: slot machines.

Last year, Maryland lawmakers passed a bill that allowed voters to decide whether the state should make slot machines legal.

In November, Maryland voters approved a ballot measure by a nearly 3-2 ratio to change the state constitution to allow slot machine gambling. The measure allows up to 15,000 machines at five locations, none of which is in Prince George's.

This week, council member Eric Olson (D-College Park) introduced a bill that would ban slot machines in the county.

Even with the constitutional change approved by voters, the General Assembly would have to approve additional legislation to allow gaming elsewhere in the state.

Olson said the legislation is something of a preemptive strike.

"In the future, you never know what might come along," he said. "This is a land-use policy that is consistent with what we would want here in Prince George's and what we do not want here."

Olson said he is unaware of any moves to bring gambling to the county, but he added, "I have to think that someday that could be a possibility."

Report Finds Schools Are Underenrolled

A new piece of evidence has landed in the debate over whether the Prince George's County school system should close six schools as part of its coming budget: a report that shows the system is underenrolled by nearly 10,000 students.

In September, the school board ordered administrators to look at the system's attendance boundaries, hoping to reduce crowding in some areas and fill unused seats in others. An initial study of the boundaries was released last week, and it shows that Prince George's has 127,878 students in a system with capacity for 137,677, meaning it could hold 9,799 more students.

The study could be important in considering which six schools to consolidate under a budget proposed by Interim Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. It could also make it harder for the school system to argue for additional money to construct schools.

"Many of us knew that there was gross underenrollment in certain areas," school board member Donna Hathaway Beck (At Large) said at a board meeting last week, at which the report was discussed. She also said she thinks the effect on the capital improvement program "is going to be quite dramatic."

The report said 46 elementary, nine middle and five high schools are under 80 percent of student capacity, compared with 14 elementary, one middle and three high schools that are heavily overcrowded.

The least crowded schools -- the most obvious targets for closure -- are concentrated inside the Capital Beltway, particularly in the central and southern parts of the county, as well as on some of its southern fringes.

Some of the county's most crowded high schools, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Charles Herbert Flowers, neighbor underenrolled high schools, such as Duval and Largo. The board could redraw boundaries for those schools.

It will receive a presentation on school consolidations next Thursday, with public hearings to follow, and will tackle the first round of boundary adjustments early next month.

Edwards Explains Vote On Israel Resolution

U.S. Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) voted "present" last week on a House resolution that expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks, calling the measure "the wrong resolution at the wrong time."

She said in a statement that she believes there "is no question" that Israel has a right to defend itself but that the resolution was not in the best interest of resolving the hostilities in Gaza.

The vote put Edwards, who took office in June after defeating eight-term incumbent Albert R. Wynn (D), in a distinct minority. Five members voted against the resolution, and 22 voted present. The resolution was supported by 390 representatives, including the rest of Maryland's delegation.

Edwards, who won election in part by arguing that Wynn had moved too far to the right for his heavily liberal district in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, said in the statement that "Congress should support the call of the international community for a ceasefire and efforts to establish a lasting peace and bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to this region.

"Innocent civilians are suffering on a massive scale, and we should focus our work on removing restrictions to bring food, water, and medical care to those in need," she said.

Staff writer Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.