$5M SCHEME Former Bethesda employee pleads guilty to wire fraud. A-4
The Gazette
NEWS: Baker finds sweet success in contest to honor county teen. A-12
BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON
SPORTS: Whitman runner drops distance running, finds success as a sprinter. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
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Westbard plans meet skepticism ‘We don’t need to have these major developments to have positive change’ n
BY
TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER
Too much housing and overcrowded schools were among the major concerns of neighbors who expressed skepticism and frustration Wednesday night over proposed ideas for overhauling the Westbard section of Bethesda.
Roughly 200 people packed the Whitman High School cafeteria to hear the county planning department staff’s latest ideas for the Westbard Sector Plan, which was designed to incorporate community feedback from a briefing in December and a weeklong series of workshops in November. “We deserve better,” said Shep Burr, drawing a loud round of applause from the crowd. A catalyst for the plan updates has been the purchase by developer Equity One of New York of a major piece of the neighborhood. Equity One has expressed interest in redeveloping the 22 acres it owns across
seven properties around Westbard Avenue, including the Westwood Center, which houses a Giant Food supermarket, plus Westwood Center II, the Bowlmor Bethesda bowling alley, ManorCare, the Westwood Tower apartments and two Citgo gas stations, The Gazette has reported. In all, the developer is considering creating between 500 and 700 residential units in addition to 350,000 square feet of commercial space. The key points of contention Wednesday night
See WESTBARD, Page A-10
County to crack down on towing Montgomery says it gets about 200 complaints a year n
BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Lawmakers want to see better public protection for those whose vehicles have been towed — the top complaint to Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection. The County Council is considering a bill that would change the law to better protect the public when vehicles are towed without the owners’ consent. “It’s literally the number one consumer complaint our county receives and it touches the lives of so many people,” said Councilman Roger Berliner. Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda sponsored the bill with all eight of his council colleagues. Berliner spoke of the “horror stories” told by people who leave their vehicle for a short time, then find it has been towed. “It’s an issue that affects consumers, it affects the business community and it simply is not OK,” he said. Eric Friedman, director of the Office of Consumer Protection, said the county receives about 200 complaints every year about towing done without the owner’s consent. About one third to one half of the time, he said, the towing companies have not complied with county law. The Office of Consumer Protection works to identify when consumers have been wronged and get them their money back. Montgomery’s towing law dates to the 1980s, Friedman said. County documents show it has not been substantially updated since 1997.
Those wonderful toys (Above) Maiia Kishchukora, 11, of Rockville makes a hat during a Toy 2.0 Idea Lab on Saturday at The Kid Museum at Davis Library in Bethesda. The Toy 2.0 Challenge, open for submissions until May 25, invites talents ages 10 to 18 to submit designs for their own toy. Ten semifinalists will be chosen by June 15 to advance to a prototype phase. Three finalists will be selected, with the winning design awarded a chance to be sold in toy stores nationwide. (Right) David Kaplan, 11, of Rockville creates a toy. (Below) Brigitta Blair of Kensington helps Lauren Smith-Euben, 12, and Cayla Joftus, 11, both of Bethesda, build a toy dragon. Visit kid-museum.org/toy-2-0. PHOTOS BY BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
See TOWING, Page A-5
Decades don’t erase memories of officer’s fatal shooting Detective who died on duty in 1972 to be remembered Friday in statewide ceremony
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BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Forty-three years later, Nancy Acker clearly recalls her husband’s last day. Her husband, Montgomery County police Lt. Donald A. Robertson, had gone to work. That day, in March 1972, was a little more special; it marked his 13-year anniversary with the department. While in their Germantown home,
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Acker received a call from her husband’s brother, Ralph Robertson, also a Montgomery police officer at the time. “He told me that Don had been shot, and they were sending a cruiser to take me to the Washington Sanitarium [and Hospital, now Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park],” Acker recalled in a telephone interview. “It was the longest ride of my life.” At the old Silver Spring police station on Sligo Avenue, Robertson, then a 35-year-old police detective, became suspicious after some fellow officers brought in Jeffrey Aaron Burko.
See MEMORIES, Page A-6
Widow remembers crash
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Montgomery police sergeant died in Wheaton in 2010 BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
PHOTO FROM ROBERTSON FAMILY
Nancy Acker with her late husband, Montgomery County police Lt. Donald Robertson.
A&E
TWO SHOWS, ONE PARADISE Musician Eddie Money takes the stage at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club. B-4
Melissa Ayala remembers the night her husband, Montgomery County Police Sgt. Hector Ayala, died while on duty — April 4, 2010. She said she can tell the story a million
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times and it still hurts five years later. “There was a knock at the door Easter Sunday about 4:30 a.m.,” she said. “I was pregnant with triplets and put on bed rest. Our son, Hector Jr., had been in New Jersey with my in-laws, but they were there for Easter. “My father-in-law answered and came to tell me the police were here. I thought it was a problem in the neighborhood, but
See WIDOW, Page A-10