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The city plans to host its seventh annual Back to School Bash from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Bowie Gymnasium at 4100 Northview Drive. Businesses, nonprofits, city agencies and other groups give school supplies to children. Also scheduled are games, entertainment, moon bounces and face painting demonstrations.

Some of the participating businesses include Bowie Town Center, ServPro of Bowie, State Farm Insurance, Belair Engineering, Target and Rita's Italian Ice, according to organizers.

The city-owned gymnasium is closing from Monday through Sept. 6 for routine building cleaning and maintenance and is scheduled to reopen Sept. 7.

For more information, call 301-809-2383.

Regional author to sign book about men, relationships

Author Shafton Stewart plans to sign copies of his first book, "Talk to Me Like a Man: Straight Man Talk about the Truth Men Need to Know about Themselves in a Love Relationship," from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Fairwood Community Center at 12600 Fairwood Parkway in the Fairwood community west of Bowie.

Shafton Stewart lives in Waldorf, and his father, Anthony Stewart, lives in Fairwood. Concerned about the high divorce rate in the country, Shafton Stewart wrote the book, which is 48 pages long and sells for $9, to help men improve their relationships with wives and others.

For more information, go to http://dorrancebookstore.com.

Construction begins on Fairwood Community Park

Officials attended groundbreaking ceremonies on July 24 for the start of construction of the 30-acre Fairwood Community Park at 12390 Annapolis Road in the Bowie area.

When finished, the park will offer two soccer/football fields, a playground, an amphitheater, a loop trail, pavilions, eating area, restrooms, parking lot and landscaping, according to a news release from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Bowie student awarded Northrop Grumman scholarship

Northrop Grumman Corporation Electronic Systems awarded Luke Evan Seppi with a $10,000 scholarship at its eighth annual awards banquet at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Son of Eleanor Hansen and Mark Goggin of Bowie, Seppi graduated this year from the Eleanor Roosevelt High School science and tech program, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, wind ensemble, Dixieland combo and jazz band. He was also co-captain of the varsity baseball team.

Seppi has received scholarships from the Union Plus Scholarship Program; Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington, D.C; The American Legion, Department of Maryland; The Ivy Community Charities of Prince George's County; and the Lions International, District 22-C, according to his mother.

He plans to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in Catonsville, where he has been selected as a Meyerhoff Scholar.

Data generated by MedAssurant presented on Capitol Hill

MedAssurant Inc., a major employer in Bowie, provided data for a report about hospital readmissions to House and Senate members of Congress on July 28.

The report, "Reducing Preventable Hospital Readmissions in Medicare," was presented by Washington, D.C.,-based America's Health Insurance Plans, which lobbies for health insurance companies.

MedAssurant data was used to compare rehospitalization rates for Medicare Advantage enrollees with results from a 2004 study of Medicare's traditional fee-for-service program, according to a company news release.

"Preventable hospital readmissions represent a consistent problem in our healthcare system, costing the government billions of dollars each year," said Cary Sennett, chief medical officer at MedAssurant, in the release.

MedAssurant, which employs more than 500 people in Bowie, is the city's second-largest employer after Prince George's County public schools, according to the city budget.

Noodles & Company opens at Bowie Town Center

Noodles & Company plans to open a restaurant in Bowie today at the Bowie Town Center. It is the first restaurant in Bowie for the company, which also has a restaurant in College Park, as well as other locations outside the county, according to its website.

The company hired 12 full-time and 12 part-time employees.

Tall Oaks grad completes Marine training

Marine Corps Pfc. Drakkar J. Coley, a 2009 graduate of the Tall Oaks Technical Academy in Bowie and son of Regina Coley of Largo, recently completed the Marine Aviation Maintenance Administration Course in Meridian, Miss. Coley joined the Marine Corps in November 2009.

During the course with Marine Aviation Training Support Squadron One, Marine Aviation Support Training Support Group 21 in Meridian, Coley received training on security of classified information, aeronautic technical publications and the Navy Airlift maintenance program. Studies also include training on aircraft accounting systems and procedures, aircraft log books and Navy correspondence and directive systems.

Marine finishes program at Camp Lejeune

Marine Corps Cpl. Patrick M. Sheets, son of Olive E. Johnson of Kingwood, W. Va. and Todd A. Sheets, of Bowie, recently graduated from the combat engineer officer course conducted at Marine Corps Engineer School at Camp Lejeune, N. C.

Students receive instruction in basic and supervisory level operational and planning skills in engineering related subjects pertaining to mobility, counter-mobility, survivability, and general engineering.

Sheets graduated from Preston High School in Kingwood, W.Va., in 2006 and joined the Marine Corps in December of that year.

Student with Bowie ties graduates from Randolph-Macon

David McAteer graduated from Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Va., in May. He is the son of Tracy S. McAteer of Crofton and Michael W. McAteer of Bowie.

While a student, he was a member of the Academy's Air Force JROTC program. He plans to attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the fall.

Randolph-Macon Academy is a college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school for students in grades 6 through 12. Students in grades 9-12 participate in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Church schedules back-to-school event

Christ Community Church on 1925 Mitchellville Road in Bowie plans to host an event to provide children with school supplies from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The day includes celebrity and guest speakers, entertainment, food, games and information about how to live a healthy lifestyle. For more information, call 301-249-7211.

Health insurance exchanges subject of session at UMBC

The Health Care Reform Coordinating Council, the state-level group set up to coordinate the implementation of the federal health care reform law in Maryland, has scheduled a public workgroup session about insurance markets and exchanges from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 26 at the Technology Research Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in Catonsville.

Exchanges, or purchasing pools, designed to foster competition will enable individuals and small groups to buy health insurance at lower rates than if they bought insurance individually.

Another workgroup session, about entry to coverage, is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 31 at the tech center. Additional workgroup meetings are scheduled in September.

The reform law provides a tax credit, effective this year, for small businesses and nonprofits that provide health insurance to their employees. Using a hypothetical example, an auto repair shop with 10 employees (earning an average of $25,000 each) that pays $70,000 in health care costs would earn a $24,500 (35 percent) credit in 2010 and a $35,000 (50 percent) credit in 2014.

For more information about the Health Care Reform Coordinating Council meetings, go to www.healthreform.maryland.gov or call 410-455-6854.

For more information about the reform law, go to www.healthcare.gov.