Free Republic

Former Hyattsville Mayor Kevin Ward, a popular gay local politician who shockingly committed suicide earlier this year, has been posthumously accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the KIPP DC public charter school network, according to a complaint filed by federal prosecutors. According to a civil forfeiture complaint filed on Monday, Ward, the former senior director of technology for KIPP DC, allegedly used $2.2 million of school funds to make personal purchases while working for the charter network from 2017 through July 2021. Prosecutors claim that the funds had been earmarked toward providing laptops, tablets, and other technology for children,...

WASHINGTON – The Mayor of Hyattsville, Maryland, Kevin Ward died Tuesday in an apparent suicide, officials said. He was 44-years-old. Ward’s body was reportedly found in a park in McLean, Virginia.

A citizen of Bangladesh who was living in Maryland has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State group.

Metro officials on Saturday said excessive heat was the probable cause for a train derailment Friday in Prince George’s County. Investigators said a “heat kink” due to extreme high temperatures and direct exposure to sunlight likely caused the rails to expand, resulting in the derailment. The derailment was reported on the inbound stretch of the Green Line near the West Hyattsville Station around 4:45 p.m.

High temperatures caused a “heat kink” along a stretch of Metrorail track, officials said, closing a portion of Green Line service throughout the weekend and likely impacting the Monday morning rush hour. Service between Fort Totten and Prince George’s Plaza was suspended Saturday and Sunday while crews repaired the 1,000-foot section of track bent out of shape because of the hot weather. Metro officials announced Sunday night that service had restarted between the two stations, but trains were single-tracking.

Welcome to Hyattsville, population 15,000, where the downtown looks more like New York City and the neighborhoods more like Iowa. The City Council this spring passed a law reaffirming residents' rights to grow vegetables on front lawns. Three months later, some residents have 8-foot-high corn patches in front of their homes, and neighbors say they don't mind. "I think some people might consider different types of landscapes unsightly, just like different painting schemes or building additions - which may increase or decrease property values - but it is still permitted by our code," Mayor William F. Gardiner said. Residents always...