PURPLE LINE RALLY Montgomery, Prince George’s leaders tout project. A-3
NEWS: Schools’ Minority Scholars Program is headed to South America. A-4
The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON
SPORTS: Bethesda-Chevy Chase boys basketball steps forward as a playoff contender. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
25 cents
Split board votes to change bell times Developer eyes
homes, shops in ‘new Westwood’
Middle and high school to start 20 minutes later
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BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County middle and high school students can sleep in another 20 minutes starting next school year. Following another round of heated debate on the issue, the school board voted 5-3 Tuesday to shift bell times. High schools and middle schools will start and end 20 minutes later. Elementary schools will start 10 minutes later and end 20 minutes later. School officials said the extra 10 minutes of the day will be for longer lunches and recesses. High schools currently start at 7:25 a.m. Middle schools start at 7:55 a.m. and elementary schools, which are split into two tiers, start at 8:50 and 9:15 a.m. At the board’s request, Superintendent Joshua P. Starr presented a range of options for a possible change — some that would cost a few million dollars, some that wouldn’t cost anything. Board President Patricia O’Neill said after Tuesday’s vote that Starr’s proposal made in 2013 would have been the best solution, but its $21 million price tag wasn’t possible for the
Equity One unveils plans for overhauling Bethesda neighborhood n
BY
STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Lisa Silverberg (left) and son Jesse, 12, who attends Takoma Park Middle School, chant with other Montgomery County Public Schools students and their parents, most wearing robes and pajamas over winter clothes, during a protest Monday outside the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville. district to take on. O’Neill said the 20-minute shift is “a step in the right direction.” “You just have to do what you think is right and I became
convinced, and some of my other colleagues did, that we need to give our high school and middle school kids a bit of relief and this is as good as we
can do given the fiscal climate,” she said. Board members Christo-
See BELL, Page A-11
Black history comes to life at Henson park North Bethesda site hosts tours, historical and spoken word events n
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
A historic park in North Bethesda is hosting a series of events to mark Black History Month. Every Saturday in February, the Josiah Henson Park is offering free guided tours and showing a documentary about archaeological research at the
park. The month’s events finish up with a spoken word poetry event Feb. 28. The park is named for the Rev. Josiah Henson, who was a slave on the Riley farm in what is now North Bethesda in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Henson escaped to freedom in Canada, and his autobiography probably inspired the abolitionist novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” according to the Department of Parks. The Henson park still has the Riley farmhouse and historians are still researching the site.
On Feb. 28, people can celebrate Black History Month by presenting their compositions at a spoken word poetry event, “Lyrical Rhythms: The Sounds of Freedom.” At the event, which runs from 3 to 4 p.m., people can contribute original poetry, songs or other forms of artistic expression. This Saturday and Feb. 21 and 28, the park offers free guided tours to learn about Henson and his escape to Canada. The tours run from noon to 4 p.m., with the last tour starting at 4 p.m. Showings of a documen-
tary, “The Search for Josiah Henson,” are scheduled for noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m. The documentary was shot by PBS’s Time Team America and follows archaeologists researching the site. The documentary was filmed in 2012 and aired in 2013, The Gazette previously reported. All the events are free. Visitors can park at the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center, 5900 Executive Blvd., North Bethesda, and walk a short distance to the Henson park. ewaibel@gazette.net
A safe place for abused seniors ElderSAFE Center offers temporary shelter for vulnerable older population n
BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
CHARLES E. SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES
Debbie Feinstein, chief of the Family Violence Division of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, speaks at the inaugural celebration of the ElderSAFE Center at the Charles E. Smith Life Communities campus in Rockville on Jan. 28.
Senior citizens who become the victims of abuse now have access to a special, temporary shelter through a new program run by a Rockville organization that provides housing and services for seniors. The ElderSAFE Center, established within the Charles E. Smith Life Communities in September, offers “a full panoply” of senior-focused medical services that other
shelters might not be able to provide, said Tovah Kasdin, a former prosecutor who is now the director of the center. An inaugural celebration for the center was held Jan. 28. The abuse encountered by seniors can be physical, psychological, sexual or even financial, Kasdin, said. Since the center opened in September, Kasdin has offered admission to three seniors, but for various reasons those people did not come to the shelter, she said. In one case, a woman was being abused by her adult children and her husband was unable to intervene; but the victim wasn’t ready to leave the situation, Kasdin said.
See SENIORS, Page A-11
A redeveloped shopping center in the Westbard neighborhood of Bethesda could add 500 to 700 new homes and more shops while retaining some existing retailers, the developer said last week. Equity One owns 22 acres across seven properties around Westbard Avenue where the Giant Food supermarket is, including Westwood Center, Westwood Center II, the Bowlmor bowling alley, ManorCare, the Westwood Tower apartments and two Citgo gas stations. The company is looking at redeveloping all of them except for the apartment building over the next 10 years or so. At a meeting Feb. 4 with news media members, Michael Berfield, executive vice president of development for Equity One, emphasized that the plans might change down the road. “We like it, but we realize
See SHOPS, Page A-11
C&O park pulls back on plan to raise fees At Bethesda meeting, residents express a mix of opinions about charges n
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
The National Park Service is scaling back its plans to increase user fees at the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The park still proposes raising current entrance, campground and pavilion rental fees, but only at park locations where those fees are now collected. “We have seen the great passion we all share for this park displayed over the course of three public meetings and have three more scheduled,” Superintendent Kevin Brandt said in a news release issued late Friday. “At this point we’re modifying our proposal and will continue public dialogue.” At a public meeting Thursday at the Washington Waldorf School in Bethesda, feedback was mixed. Some expressed concern about the hardship that more
and higher fees might cause users, while others emphasized the need to raise money to care for the park, which stretches from Cumberland to Washington, D.C. The park service recently announced that it was considering raising fees at the C&O Canal park, to bring it in line with other parks in its category, such as Antietam National Battlefield. Brandt said at Thursday’s meeting that the Park Service has been deferring maintenance projects because of federal budget cuts, which puts some areas of the park in danger of deteriorating beyond repair. “We are living on borrowed time, because we aren’t doing the maintenance,” he said. Brandt said people at previous public meetings near the western part of the park worried that increasing fees would deter tourists. Currently, the only site along the park’s 184.5-mile length that collects fees is the Great Falls Visitor Center in Potomac. The new proposal announced Friday would raise those and other cur-
See FEES, Page A-11
A&E
INDEX Automotive Business Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
ELIZABETH WAIBEL
there are some things the community will want to change,” he said. In what Equity One is calling the “new Westwood,” most parking is likely to be underground. Some townhouses are planned across from the Kenwood Place condominiums, where the Giant Food parking lot is now. The Westwood Center that is home to Giant would be divided into three blocks with a grocery store and other shops. Across Westbard Avenue, more shops and condominiums are planned to replace Bowlmor, Westwood Center II and ManorCare. The total number of new residences has not been determined, but Berfield said there would probably be about 75 townhomes and 450 condominiums or apartments in the entire development. The maximum number would be 700, he said. Berfield said the area will not be like Bethesda Row or Rockville Town Center. Equity One is not looking to create a new community, but to fit in the existing community, he said. “What we want is for the
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B-E-E SPELLS T-R-O-U-B-L-E
Kensington Arts Theatre presents musical “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
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