Week in Review: Crazy Quilt Music Festival, School Bus Fire and Police Address Students' Concerns About Violence

We began the week with a photo gallery of the cleanup at Greenbelt Park, part of the annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup Day. The gray, chilly weather on Saturday, April 9, didn't stop volunteers from joining the watershed cleanup campaign. 

Toes were tapping at the 11th annual Crazy Quilt Music Festival on April 9. The event drew the young and the young at heart for an afternoon of music, friends and hoola hoops.

On Tuesday, we reported on Greenbelt's ACE honorees, six local educators who have made a significant impact in their respective schools. Following the ACE reception, the Greenbelt City Council met and passed two ordinances, rejected plans of a Beltsville-based, railway facility and discussed a few items, including the Franklin Park at Greenbelt Station apartments, which have undergone new management and renovations since 2010.

On Wednesday, Patch reported on the team of Greenbelt police officers who participated in the Greenbelt Middle School PTA meeting, “Meet the Police.” Acting principal Warren Tweedy said the police came in response to Greenbelt Patch's article about middle school honor students who spoke out on violent crime in Greenbelt.

In county news, a coalition of unionized county government employees urged the County Council to vote down a plan to ax a pay increase that former County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) negotiated in 2010. Another legislative session came to a close in Annapolis, and county leaders scored some last-minute wins in securing funding for county government and schools.

On Wednesday, we captured the beauty of springtime in Greenbelt in a photo gallery that featured the many trees and flowers in bloom. And we announced the launch of Patch's new iPhone app that you can download for free.

On Thursday, the Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad responded to a school bus fire on the northbound Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Thirty-one eighth-grade students were on the bus; two were transported to a Laurel hospital for treatment of elevated carbon monoxide levels.

In anticipation of Easter, we suggested several restaurants that are serving Easter brunch and provided a list of local churches celebrating Palm Sunday.

We ended the week by reporting that Eleanor Roosevelt High School's stand-out basketball player, Prince Orokoh, has committed to play close to home at Division I Howard University. Oh, and how could we forget the weather on Saturday? A tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning made for a crazy breaking news day in our Patch region.