Bethesdagaz 021214 by The Gazette

HEARTSTRING THEORY

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Versatile performer views love on a scientiﬁc plane. B-5

BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON

DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net

Residents help decide what to spend town’s reserves on n

Vote underway on what to do with $8 million in spare cash BY

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

25 cents

a new lead Cold case has

CHIEF IDENTIFIES CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER WHO MAY HAVE HAD CONTACT WITH LYON SISTERS, MISSING SINCE 1975

Sheila (left) and Katherine Lyon of Kensington went missing almost 39 years ago.

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

The town of Chevy Chase is trying to find the best place or places to spend its extra money. At the end of the last fiscal year, the town had more than $8 million left in the bank. For a town of 2,800 people with an operating budget of $2.8 million, that’s no small number. Mayor Pat Burda said the town is in the enviable position of having its reserves up. While officials probably won’t spend all $8 million on one project, they are asking for residents’ input on the best way to use some of it. “I don’t like to spend money just to spend

See RESERVES, Page A-12

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Katie Ledecky of Stone Ridge laps the other swimmers in the girls 500-yard freestyle in the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming Championships on Saturday in Germantown.

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

During a news conference Tuesday in Rockville, Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger points to a police mug shot of Lloyd Lee Welch, who police think is involved in the disappearance of the Lyon sisters in 1975. At left is Steve Vogt, a special agent with the FBI.

Ledecky breaks record at Metros

‘These things don’t happen, we thought, in Montgomery County’

STAFF WRITER

Stone Ridge junior becomes ﬁrst woman to swim 500-yard freestyle in less than 4 minutes, 30 seconds n

BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER

The few minutes between the end of warmups and the start of a swimming championship is usually a time when swimmers focus inward, get themselves in the right frame of mind for the upcoming competition. Katie Ledecky, a junior at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, spent those moments at Saturday’s Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving championships signing autographs for, and taking pictures with, young fans who approached her on the Germantown Indoor Swim center pool deck. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist didn’t even turn away admirers that hoarded around her on occasion in between her events — ultimately Stone Ridge coach Robert Walker escorted them away until after the meet — and when everything

ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH

Montgomery County police are hoping to ﬁnd out more about Lloyd Lee Welch, a convicted sex offender, and his possible connection to the disappearance of Sheila and Katherine Lyon almost 39 years ago from Wheaton Plaza. Police say they have conﬁrmed he was at the mall the day the girls disappeared.

See LEDECKY, Page A-12

Police shed new light on a nearly 39-year-old missing person case Tuesday when they identified a convicted sex offender they believe may have had contact with two Kensington girls the day they disappeared. The girls, Sheila and Katherine Lyon, ages 12 and 10, walked to Wheaton Plaza, as it was known at the time, for lunch on March 25, 1975, and vanished. At a press conference Tuesday, Montgomery County police identiﬁed 57-year-old Lloyd Lee Welch, a convicted sex offender, and said they have conﬁrmed he was at the mall the day the girls disappeared. Investigators have traveled to Delaware, where Welch is serving a prison sentence for raping young girls, to talk to him, Assistant Police Chief Russell Hamill said. Chief J. Thomas Manger declined to comment on how those interviews have gone and what police have learned in them. Welch has served jail time for

SPORTS

A TWEET LASTS FOREVER

Social media is here to stay as a part of high school students’ lives, for better or worse.

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Automotive Business Calendar Classiﬁed Entertainment Opinion School News Sports Please

1975 case in which two girls disappeared shattered sense of safety n

AND

BY SARAH SCULLY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITERS

The story of a disappearance almost 39 years ago has haunted Montgomery County, resurfacing periodically with remembrances or potential leads to a still unsolved crime. Two young girls walking a half-mile to the Wheaton Plaza were never seen again. On March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the mall for pizza and window shopping. They vanished, shattering a sense

See SAFETY, Page A-12 multiple convictions of sexual offenses and raping young girls in Virginia, South Carolina and Delaware, Manger said. He has not been charged in connection with the Lyons’ case. “If we were able to charge

someone, we would have done it,” Manger said. According to police, witnesses from that day told investigators they saw Welch “paying

See LEAD, Page A-12

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THE GAZETTE

Page A-2

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

PEOPLE& PLACES More online at www.gazette.net

4-H’ers tackle substance abuse at conference Fifteen youths from nine states, including Maryland, recently followed in President Barack Obama’s footsteps when they presented their own state of the union speeches, each focusing on how their communities are working to prevent the abuse of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs as part of National Drug Facts Week. The presentations took place during the Health Rocks! Youth Ambassador Summit, a collaboration between the National 4-H Council and the National Institute on Drug Abuse for National Drug Facts Week, which was observed Jan. 27 to Feb. 2. The conference was held Jan. 30 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase. In their home states, participants teach middle school students about substance abuse prevention. They use the Health Rocks! curriculum, which was designed by 4-H, a national youth development organization, to combat substance abuse issues locally. The event featured a keynote address by David Mineta, the deputy director of demand reduction for the Ofﬁce of National Drug Control Policy. Jeanine Goldsmith, the grant manager for the Health Rocks! program, said Mineta assured participants that by teaching the curriculum, they were supporting the president’s national drug control strategy. “Some youth do the program and they don’t understand how they ﬁt in the national spectrum,” Goldsmith said. “It’s great to know they’re a part of the greater good of

ELIZABETH WAIBEL

the White House initiative.” The Chevy Chase conference also included a discussion with two scientists from the National Institutes of Health, during which youth asked questions about the neurological impact of drug abuse and how to deal with the recent legalization of marijuana in Washington state. IQ Solutions, a public health communications company in Rockville, has been the communications contractor for the National Institute on Drug Abuse for 13 years and encouraged 4-H to partner with the institute for National Drug Facts Week. Linda Silverstein, a project manager and interactive communications manager for IQ Solutions, said the Health Rocks! conference was one of more than 1,000 events held with different organizations across the country for National Drug Facts Week. “The idea was to really give these Health Rocks! representatives enough information about what they say about drug abuse so they can be experts in their communities and further the mission of National Drug Facts Week,” Silverstein said. To continue the week’s focus, 4-H launched the Health Rocks! Carnival app during the conference. The game, available for iPads and online, challenges a player’s knowledge about drug facts through a series of colorful carnival games. Players earn health points for each correct answer with the goal of achieving “super hero” health.

EVENTS Lincoln Day Forum, 7-9 p.m., Potomac Library, 10101 Glenolden Drive, Potomac. Free. 301-762-9115.

FRIDAY, FEB. 14

Ave., Bethesda. $18; $8 if bringing a bottle of wine to share. 301-951-3660.

SATURDAY, FEB. 15 Indoor Flea Market, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.,

Hospice, 1355 Piccard Drive, Rockville. Free. 301-921-4400.

Salvation Army Montgomery County, 20021 Aircraft Drive, Germantown. 301-515-5354, ext. 16. Dog-Eared Book Club Meeting, 10-11:30 a.m., St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 6030 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda. Free. 301-983-5913. Succotash Tales, 11 a.m., Davis Library, 6400 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda. Free. 240-777-0922.

p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, 100 Welsh Park Drive, Rockville. $15 suggested donation. 301-762-7666. Valentine’s Soiree, 8-11 p.m., Dance Bethesda, 8227 Woodmont

Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, 6601 Bradley Blvd., Bethesda. $20 general admission, $15 for seniors and students. 301-365-2850. Play In A Day, 8 p.m., Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda.

Eistophos Science Club, 1 p.m., Glen Echo Town Hall, 6106 Harvard Ave., Glen Echo. Free. jim.nancymac@ yahoo.com.

Forever Yours: A Valentine’s Day Workshop, 1-2:30 p.m., Montgomery Tree of Life Cafe: Heartfelt Songs for Valentine’s Day, 8-11

SPORTS Check online for coverage of the state wrestling dual meet tournament.

Organist Donald Sutherland Concert with C Street Brass, 7:30 p.m.,

A&E American craft beer exports taking off.

For more on your community, visit www.gazette.net NATIONAL 4-H COUNCIL

Aaron Young Jr. of the Richmond, Va., area checks out the app launched at the Health Rocks! Youth Ambassador Summit, held Jan. 30 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase. “The Health Rocks! curricula is very hands-on, but it’s cool to have something like an app to entice [participants] to stay in the program,” Goldsmith said. — KIRSTEN PETERSEN

Bethesda teen recognized for public service Abigail da Silva, 17, of Bethesda has received the Congressional Award Gold Medal for her commitment to public service, personal development and physical ﬁtness. Over a two-year period, da Silva completed more than 1,400 hours of work toward her goals, working on art skills, cardiovascular

SAT

strength and volunteer projects. She spent four days exploring World Heritage Sites in Nova Scotia and earned a scholarship for illustrating a book for the Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge at B’nai B’rith. Last year, da Silva received the Congressional Silver Award. She will pick up her gold award at a ceremony in June.

7th annual Montgomery County Community Home Show, 10 a.m.-6

p.m., Universities at Shady Grove Conference Center, 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, also 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 16. $5. www.midatlanticexpos.com.

MORE INTERACTIVE CALENDAR ITEMS AT WWW.GAZETTE.NET $15. 301-215-6660.

SUNDAY, FEB. 16 Sunday Afternoon Waltz, 2:45-6 p.m., Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. $10. 202-238-0230.

MONDAY, FEB. 17 Parent of Teens Support Group,

6:30-7:30 p.m., 11307 Rokeby Ave., Garrett Park. Free. 301-466-1637.

ConsumerWatch Where does the money go when big banks get fined millions — or billions — of dollars?

LIZ CRENSHAW

Lindsay S. Shaffer of North Bethesda was named to the fall

Let’s let Liz follow the cash flow on this one.

WeekendWeather

Campus congrats

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

semester president’s list at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Shaffer graduated last semester with a bachelor’s in psychology.

TUESDAY, FEB. 18

BestBet

Send items at least two weeks in advance of the paper in which you would like them to appear. Go to calendar.gazette.net and click on the submit button. Questions? Call 301-670-2070.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12

GALLERY

Walt Whitman’s Hannah Niles moves past Walter Johnson’s Kristin Scott in a Friday matchup. Go to clicked.Gazette.net.

The Alexander Technique: An Introduction and Demonstration of a Method of Movement Re-education,

2-4 p.m., Chevy Chase Village Hall, 5906 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase. Free. 301-657-3115.

African Americans in Montgomery County During the Civil War, 7-9

p.m., Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Ave., Rockville. Free. 301984-3187.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19 Lunch and Discover Retirement Living, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Ingleside at

King Farm, 701 King Farm Blvd., Rockville. 240-499-9019. Author Program for Teens, 7-8:45 p.m., Bethesda Library, 7400 Arlington Road, Bethesda. Free. 240-777-0970.

Get complete, current weather information at

NBCWashington.com

DEATHS Edna Belle Burton Wilson Edna Belle Burton Wilson, formerly of Burtonsville, died Feb. 7, 2014. A funeral will take place at 11 a.m. Feb. 13 at Donaldson Funeral Home, 313 Talbott Ave., Laurel.

CORRECTIONS

Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Brookside Room, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda. 301-230-0045, ext. 300.

A Feb. 5 article about a Chevy Chase landlord who was sued in civil court for recording his female tenants after pleading guilty in criminal court incorrectly named the judge in the criminal proceedings. He was Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Paul H. Weinstein.

agement Program, 10100 Connecticut Ave., Kensington. $30. 301-929-8824.

In a Feb. 5 story, the name of the BethesdaChevy Chase hockey team’s head coach, Jonathan “JT” Burton, was misspelled.

How to Grow and Protect Wealth Seminar, 7-9 p.m., Bethesda North

Stop the Yelling, Start the Cooperation, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Parent Encour-

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THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page A-3

LOCAL

Zoning change is OK’d for Apex

Records differ on French rail company’s role in Holocaust

n Council tries to pave way for Bethesda station for Purple Line

SNCF, bidding to operate Purple Line, says it wasn’t paid to transport Jews

RYAN MARSHALL

STAFF WRITER

The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday approved a zoning change for the area around a building in downtown Bethesda eyed as the western terminus of the Purple Line light-rail project, in the hopes of making a deal with the building’s owners more enticing. The council voted 9-0 to approve a recommendation by the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee that would allow an increase in height and density requirements for the Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin Ave. and some of the area around the building. The building is owned by the American Society of HealthSystem Pharmacists. The county is trying to persuade the group to raze the guilding to allow the construction of a new building that would be built over the station for the proposed Purple Line and the Bethesda station on Metro’s Red Line. The 16-mile Purple Line would link Bethesda and New Carrollton. Among other changes, the new plan would allow the building to be rebuilt up to 250 feet high, rather than an earlier proposed limit of 200 feet. That would allow the owner to construct a more valuable building on the site, after the Purple Line work is ﬁnished. But Councilwoman Nancy

STAFF WRITER

2013 FILE PHOTO

The Montgomery County Council wants the Bethesda Purple Line station built under the downtown Apex Building. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park, who chairs the planning committee, said that despite the council’s vote, there are still “lots of twists and turns” before the situation is resolved. Floreen said the council was not proposing a deal, but merely trying to create a situation in which a deal could happen. Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda said that while the height increase and some of the other changes were more than what might usually be allowed in the heart of Bethesda, he believes the trade-offs were proper and in the public interest to help make a deal more attractive to the pharmacists society. Representatives for the so-

ciety could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But at a January public hearing, the group’s senior vice president and chief operating ofﬁcer, David Witmer, said that while his group appreciates the extra height being offered, the extra zoning alone wouldn’t make it worthwhile for the group to move its ofﬁces, evict other tenants and demolish the building. Among those tenants is the Regal Bethesda 10 movie theater. Councilman Hans Riemer (D-At large) of Takoma Park said he believes the project provides a lot of upside if a deal can be worked out. A new building would allow access to the Capital Crescent Trail under Wisconsin Avenue through a new tunnel

rather than a narrower walkway through an existing tunnel, according to a county memorandum. It also would reduce the amount of extra train tracks in Woodmont Plaza for the Purple Line from 100 feet to about 30 feet, and allow an exhaust tower for the light-rail project to be built inside the new building rather than in the plaza. Berliner said that as Bethesda adds more development, people are more conscious of public space and Woodmont Plaza is one of the most important public spaces in Bethesda because it provides a natural place for people to gather. rmarshall@gazette.net

Purple Line group: Hold off on hiring law ﬁrm Chevy Chase Town Council is expected to vote Wednesday

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

The Action Committee for Transit wants the town of Chevy Chase to hold another public hearing before deciding whether to hire a law ﬁrm to oppose some elements of the Purple Line, the $2.2 billion light rail project the group supports. The Town Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to “engage a law ﬁrm

KATE S. ALEXANDER

and/or lobbying firm to assist in responding to the proposed Purple Line project,” according to an agenda for the meeting. The council is expected to consider whether to give a law firm an 18-month, $360,000 contract to oppose some aspects of the Purple Line, such as light rail tracks planned to run behind some houses in the town, The Gazette reported last month. The town has been working with the law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney for two months, but also is looking at Dickstein and Shapiro, another law firm, for the contract.

The pro-Purple Line group wants the town to hold another public hearing before deciding, according to a news release from the organization. Residents learned that the ﬁrm would be participating in lobbying activities only after a Jan. 8 public hearing, the release said. The group recently filed a public information request for the contract, invoices and correspondence between the town and Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. Ben Ross, a nonvoting board member and former president of the Action Committee for Transit, said the group wants to determine

whether the law ﬁrm is lobbying Congress on behalf of the town, The Gazette reported. The group says it also has filed an Open Meetings Act complaint related to the town’s hiring of the law ﬁrm. The Town Council is scheduled to meet in closed session at the start of Wednesday’s meeting to discuss potential Purple Line litigation, an open meetings act complaint and a Public Information Act request. The council is scheduled to meet in open session beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday. ewaibel@gazette.net

The afﬁliate of a company seeking to operate the Purple Line says it was not paid to transport Jews to concentration camps during the Holocaust, despite records that show it asked for money. Keolis America — a U.S. affiliate of French rail company Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français, or SNCF — is part of a consortium bidding for the 35-year, $6 billion public-private partnership contract to operate the Purple Line. The Purple Line is a 16mile light rail line that would connect Bethesda and New Carrollton. A bill in the General Assembly would require companies with direct involvement in the Holocaust or their afﬁliates to disclose their involvement and pay reparations to surviving victims and their families to be eligible for a public-private partnership in Maryland. According to an online petition by Leo Bretholz, a Maryland man who survived the Holocaust, SNCF was paid per head and per kilometer during World War II to deport about 76,000 Jews and others toward Nazi death camps. However, Jerry Ray, a spokesman for SNCF’s American operations in Rockville, said SNCF was not paid to transport Jews. The company, he said, was “conscripted” into transporting Jews toward Nazi extermination or death camps under German occupation. Ray declined to define what he meant by conscripted, which is a term usually meant to signify a draft, or forced service in the armed forces. Rafi Prober, pro bono counsel to the Coalition for Holocaust Rail Justice, said in a statement provided Friday by Prism Public Affairs that SNCF is trying to “parse its role in one of the most sordid chapters in world history.” “If this is their way of defending their monstrous behav-

ior, it is shameful,” Prober said. The coalition says it comprises “victims and their family members, historians, community leaders, and volunteers committed to holding SNCF accountable.” On its website, the coalition provides a copy of a bill, in French, supposedly sent from SNCF to the French government seeking payment with interest for transportation of “interned or expelled persons” in 1944. An English translation of the bill is posted, too. In 2006, French government Commissioner JeanChristophe Truilhé said that evidence indicated that SNCF willingly transported Jews during the Holocaust. In an advisory opinion in a case over the transports before the Administrative Court of Toulouse, Truilhé said SNCF’s independence from German coercion when it came to transporting Jews toward the camps was “particularly clear,” according to an English translation posted online in a law journal. Truilhé said the transfers, in cattle cars, were “billed to the Ministry of the Interior of the government of the socalled French State at the rate of a third-class ticket for a seat per person.” Ray did not respond to requests to comment on the records showing his company seeking payments. Ray said the company is analyzing whether the Maryland bill is discriminatory and designed to single out the company at the exclusion of others. A 2011 bill related to which companies may be awarded a MARC contract was similarly drafted to apply to Keolis. That bill passed. Del. Kirill Reznik, who ﬁled the recent bill, said it deliberately is speciﬁc to the Holocaust. “We want to make sure that, at least with this bill, we deal with the information we have presently,” said Reznik (D-Dist. 39) of Germantown. As for other atrocities and the companies that might have had direct involvement, Reznik said he would look at other issues and similar legislation. kalexander@gazette.net

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Study 2 • Have moved in the last 2 years • Have remodeled their home in the last year • Have purchased a new home or refinanced their home in the last 2 years • Have been evicted or their house has been foreclosed on in the last 2 years Study 3 • Use census data, economic data, or demographic data in their work • Manipulate data or conduct statistical analysis for decision-making or grant writing Study 4 • Use census data, economic data or demographic data in their work • Manipulate data or conduct statistical analysis for decision-making or grant writing Study 5 • Must have a smart phone or IPhone • Know the type of operating system on your phone • Have at least 6 months experience using your phone

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THE GAZETTE

Page A-4

AROUND THE COUNTY School board passes $2.32B operating budget n

Amendments include staff positions, review of special education BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

In adopting a $2.32 billion operating budget for ﬁscal 2015, Montgomery County’s school board on Tuesday approved additional money for staff positions, cultural competency training and a review of special education programs and services. The school board voted unanimously to pass the amended budget, which was about $34.7 million more than what Superintendent Joshua P. Starr proposed in December. The board is sending an operating budget to the Montgomery County Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett that asks for about $91 million more than the school system received this year. The budget also is about $51 million more than what the county is required to give under state law. In a Feb. 11 letter to school board members, Starr said the amended budget also reﬂects Gov.

Martin O’Malley’s state budget proposal, which provided about $217,000 less than the school system’s requested amount. The amended budget will rely on the county to make up that shortfall. Under O’Malley’s budget, the school system would receive about $618.8 million from the state. Following developments in the school system’s negotiations with its employee associations, the adopted budget also includes about $35.8 million for employee compensation not included in Starr’s original proposed budget. When Starr proposed his initial budget, he said he aimed to address growing student enrollment, ongoing achievement gaps among student groups and changes brought on by the Common Core State Standards, among other issues. During Tuesday’s meeting, Starr and board members said the operating budget marked another step in a larger plan to add and restore positions and other budget items. School board President Phil Kauffman (At large) of Olney said the budget, which doesn’t include everything the board members wanted, is “very responsible.”

“Sometimes that gets a little frustrating when we say, ‘Gee, can’t we do it all at once,’” he said. “But I think it’s reasonable to have the multi-year approach.” School board Vice President Patricia O’Neill (District 3) of Bethesda said the budget is “a reﬂection of the past, the present and the future.” “It is a multi-year phase-in of some of the things we would like to see,” she said. The board passed amendments to the budget that included resources for two more prekindergarten classes, professional development to educate staff on how to work with students of different cultures, and three more pupil personnel workers and one more psychologist. There also will be money for an external review of special education programs and services and for student clubs related to science, technology, engineering and math. Speaking on the added pupil personnel workers and psychologist, Kauffman said the board heard a lot from the community about the need for increasing the number of such positions. “This is an area where I believe we have been underfunded in the past and we need to be expanding,”

Kauffman said. School board member Shirley Brandman (At large) of Bethesda said she supported the added staff members, as well, marking an acceleration ofaplantograduallyaddthepositions. “We’re trying, through the acceleration, to sort of note our committment,” she said. Board member Christopher S. Barclay voiced his support for the cultural compentency training, which he said could beneﬁt staff members who don’t have previous experience working with certain student groups. “We need to know our differences, not from a negative perspective but from a positive perspective so we can ﬁgure out how to attain our goals,” he said. Barclay (District 4) of Takoma Park said the review of special education programs and services is not a look at “what’s wrong.” “It is a review based on how to get even better at what we do,” he said. Board member Judith Docca (District 1) of Montgomery Village said the external review will provide “a balanced view of what we might do that would be better.” lpowers@gazette.net

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

InBrief Master Gardeners plan spring conference The Montgomery County Master Gardeners’ 14th annual Spring Gardening Conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the University of Maryland Extension’s Montgomery County office in the Agricultural History Farm Park at 18410 Muncaster Road, Derwood. This year’s theme is “Rooting for the Future: new ideas + small changes = gardening success!” The conference will include workshops, morning snacks, a bag lunch, door prizes and answers to gardening questions. Topics include dealing with deer, four-season gardening, orchids, the mint family, root vegetables and beekeeping. Advance registration, at goo.gl/i4nalm, costs $55, or $100 for two. The registration deadline is Tuesday. Workshops will be filled on a firstcome, first-served basis. For more information, email MCMGConference@gmail.com.

Spring recreation signups underway The spring issue of the Montgomery County Guide for Recreation and Parks Programs is now available. Registration opened this week for spring programs, classes and swimming lessons. Classes and programs include aquatics, sports, therapeutic recreation services and active adult senior programming. Residents may register online, by mail, fax or in person at the recreation ofﬁces at 4010 Randolph Road, Silver Spring. Print copies of the guide are available at recreation centers, park facilities, aquatic and senior centers, and public libraries. Residents can pay $5 annually and receive the guide’s four yearly editions by mail. The guide and mail subscriptions are available online at montgomerycountymd.gov/rec. For more information, call 240-777-6840.

Online ‘blitz’ on county’s summer camps The county’s recreation department will host a “Chattin’ It Up Summer” online conversation from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 22. Staff will monitor the department’s Twitter and Facebook pages, and its customer service mailbox, ﬁelding questions and comments about summer camp programs. The “virtual outreach blitz” is designed to help families select summer camp programs, understand the registration process, set up summer payment plans and answer other questions about the department’s hundreds of programs and activities, according to a news release. The morning also will feature social media contests. For information: phone 240-777-6800 or email Recreation.CustomerService@montgomerycountymd.gov. On social media: Twitter @MoCoRec; or facebook.com/montgomerycountyrecreation.

POLICE BLOTTER

Complete report at www.gazette.net The following is a summary of incidents in the Bethesda area to which Montgomery County police responded recently. The words “arrested” and “charged” do not imply guilt. This information was provided by the county.

Auto theft • Three incidents on Jan. 20 or 21 in the 2400 block of Lyttonsville Road, Silver Spring. Two unsuccessful attempts. • Three incidents between Jan. 20 and 22 in the 2100 block of Washington Avenue, Silver Spring. Two unsuccessful attempts. • Three incidents on Jan. 27 or 28 in the 8500 block of 16th Street, Silver Spring. TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Construction continues on the mixed-use development at Bethesda and Woodmont avenues in downtown Bethesda. The site was formerly the Lot 31 parking lot.

Condos, apartments on track to open in 2015 PassionFish to be ﬁrst restaurant tenant in downtown Bethesda project n

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

The massive mixed-use project under construction in downtown Bethesda is on schedule, say developers, who just announced its ﬁrst restaurant tenant. StonebridgeCarras and PN Hoffman started work on two new buildings at Woodmont and Bethesda avenues in early 2012. The site was previously county parking Lots 31 and 31A. Doug Firstenberg, principal at StonebridgeCarras, said he expects a stretch of Woodmont

Avenue that has been closed since September 2012 to reopen this summer. Its closure has snarled downtown trafﬁc. A parking garage in the project with 940 public spaces is slated to open in November. The development’s 88-unit condominium building, a 162-unit apartment building and businesses in the 40,000 square feet of retail space will begin opening in spring 2015, he said. “Generally, we’re still on schedule, and if the weather will convert from being harmful to sunny days here, that will be great,” Firstenberg said. Work crews have ﬁnished the blasting to excavate for the underground parking garage, he said, and are now building back up to ground level. Firstenberg said no extraordinary problems from the blasting had been found, and the com-

pany plans to finish inspecting nearby houses when crews finished building up to ground level. Some nearby merchants had complained about both the blasting and the loss of the parking lots. StonebridgeCarras recently announced that PassionFish, a Reston, Va., seafood restaurant, will open a 9,000-square-foot restaurant in the new development, Firstenberg said. The restaurant is the first tenant announced for the project. Firstenberg said the company already has been selling condominiums and will likely begin marketing the apartments sometime next winter. Occasional updates on the project and parking information are available at bethesda.org/ Lot31. ewaibel@gazette.net

Commercial burglary • On Jan. 20 or 21 in the 4300 block of Montgomery Avenue, Bethesda. Forced entry, took nothing. • On Jan. 20 or 21 at Sachi Nail Salon in the 7600 block of Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda. Forced entry, took property. • On Jan. 23 or 24 at Sachi Nail Salon and Chinese Express in the 7600 block of Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda. Forced entry, took property. • On Jan. 24 at 1:15 a.m. at Glen Echo Pharmacy, 7311 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Attempted forced entry, took nothing. • On Jan. 24 at 1:45 a.m. at Brookville Pharmacy, 7205 Brookville Road, Chevy Chase. Forced entry, took property. Residential burglary • 1900 block of East West Highway, Silver Spring, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Jan. 22. No forced entry, took property. • 11500 block of Cushman Road, Rockville, at 4 p.m. Jan. 22. No forced entry, took property. • 4400 block of Chalfont Place, Bethesda, on Jan. 27 or 28. No forced entry, took property. Theft • On Jan. 22 or 23 in the 2800 block of Linden Lane, Silver Spring. Took property from outside a residence.

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page A-5

Bill would cut smoking in public parks n

Delegate says secondhand smoke is hazardous, even outside BY

Carr tops out speculative ofﬁce building

ANDREW SCHOTZ STAFF WRITER

A smoking ban on parkland in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties is being considered in Annapolis. The proposal, in a bill ﬁled on Friday, would require action by the Maryland General Assembly. The ban would expand upon Montgomery’s current smoking prohibition, which applies to a variety of public places, such as government buildings, businesses and many restaurants. Last year, county property such as bus stops, parking garages and outdoor recreation areas was included, too. Under the new bill, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission would have to ban smoking of tobacco products on property under its jurisdiction, starting Oct. 1. The new bill is sponsored by both the Montgomery and Prince George’s county delegations. Del. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Dist. 19) of Derwood, who worked on the idea and got his colleagues’ support for it, said a ban in parks makes sense because of the health risks associated with secondhand smoke, even outside. There’s “no safe level of exposure,” he said, noting that secondhand smoke is a class A carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent. People might not realize that, even in open air, they need to stand at least 20 feet away to escape smoke, he said. He said two other important reasons also are driving the proposed ban. One is litter, which often is tobacco-related, such as cigarette butts, he said. The other is the environmental damage tobacco trash can cause by leaching into the soil and the aquifer, Kramer said. After visiting Ridge Road Dog Park in Germantown on Friday, Dr. Michael Raboy said he agreed with

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New Bethesda ofﬁces nearing completion BY SONNY GOLDREICH SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Dr. Michael Raboy of Germantown, a dentist who used to practice in Montgomery Village, uses an electronic cigarette Friday in the Ridge Road Dog Park in Germantown. the proposed parkland ban, if the health dangers Kramer cited are true. Raboy, a dentist who lives in Germantown, said he was a heavy smoker for ﬁve years, but hasn’t had a cigarette in two years. Now, he uses an electronic cigarette, which delivers nicotine but releases water vapor instead of tobacco smoke. He doesn’t support one part of the bill that would directly affect him: The Park and Planning Commission, in its regulations, could prohibit an electronic cigarette or similar device, “whether or not the electronic device contains tobacco or nicotine,” the bill says. Raboy called that idea foolish and wondered why government ofﬁcials wouldn’t encourage something that

cuts down on cigarette smoke and use. On Jan. 30, Montgomery County’s planning board expressed support for the bill. “It’s going to happen,” Mary Bradford, director of parks at Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, said of the ban. “It’s the wave of the future; how you get there is the issue.” One sticking point was that park employees would not have anywhere to smoke, a right protected under collective bargaining, Bradford said. To solve that, the bill was rewritten to let the county designate certain areas within parks for employee smoking. Amy Presley, a planning board

commissioner, admitted she was trying to quit smoking. “It’s a horrible habit,” Presley said. But without designated areas, smokers like her would be forced out of parks. The bill also was changed so the county could exclude facilities rented out for events and certain venues, such as golf courses. “I would support this bill the way that it is written,” said Francoise Carrier, the board’s chairwoman. “It gives us parameters.” A hearing on the bill will be held in Annapolis on March 5. aschotz@gazette.net Agnes Blum contributed to this story.

Carr Properties has topped out construction for 4500 East West Highway, a 220,400-square-foot speculative office building that is nearing completion in downtown Bethesda. It is part of a speculative office trend in the market, which has gone from moribund to a small boom since the Great Recession almost five years ago. The building, marketed by broker Transwestern, is rising on the space formerly occupied by a McDonald’s restaurant opposite Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. It is being promoted as a corporate headquarters trophy space two blocks from the Bethesda Metro station. The nine-story property has platinum pre-certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and will include more than 13,000 square feet of street-level retail, a four-level garage and a 4,500-square-foot rooftop terrace. Transwestern’s Phillip McCarthy, Keith Foery and Jovi McAndrew are the leasing agents for the Carr project. The building is expected to be delivered this summer. The project, built by Clark Construction of Bethesda, is the first new Class A office building to be completed in Bethesda since 2001. But almost 305,000 square feet of space hit the market in 2012. That year, B.F. Saul delivered 185,470 square feet of renovated space at 7700 Old Georgetown Road and Akridge completed its 119,239-square-foot, top-to-bottom reclamation of a former federal office building it bought at auction for $12.5 million in 2010. Last year, Bernstein Cos. won approval for Bethesda Center, a mixed-use complex that would include a 253,787-square-foot office building and a 222-room hotel on properties now occupied by the Bethesda Court Hotel at 7740 Wisconsin Ave., Tako Grill and the Connor Building, a two-story office and retail center. Delivery is targeted for 2016, assuming Bernstein can line up a major office tenant.

THE GAZETTE

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Hogan launches bid for governor with Rutherford n

First GOP ticket to use public ﬁnancing

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Workers raze the buildings on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda that housed the American College of Cardiology. Going up on the 10-acre lot will be a housing complex of single-family homes, townhouses and duplexes called Bethesda Mews.

Making room for Bethesda Mews Cardiology college coming down as prep for housing development

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

Out with the old medical building and

in with a new batch of houses in Bethesda. On Thursday, demolition was underway at the old American College of Cardiology campus in Bethesda. The campus on Old Georgetown Road had been vacant since the organization moved to Washington, D.C., in 2006, The Gazette reported in April.

A new housing development called Bethesda Mews is planned for the property. The 10-acre property will have 29 single-family homes, as well as townhomes and duplexes, The Gazette reported. ewaibel@gazette.net

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Larry Hogan, from Anne Arundel County, and his running mate, Boyd Rutherford of Howard County, have filed for the election and are the first in their party to run on public dollars this election. Hogan, chairman of the nonprofit fiscal accountability group Change Maryland, and Rutherford, a former secretary of Maryland’s Department of General Services, filed Monday. They also filed their intent to participate in the state’s public campaign financing program. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Del. Heather R. Mizeur (Dist. 20) of Takoma Park is the only other candidate in the governor race so far to use public funding for the primary. Candidates who opt for public campaign financing can raise no more than about 44 cents for every resident of the

state, or approximately $2.5 million in the 2014 primary, according to the tate election board’s website. In opposed elections, the state will evenly match the money raised by candidates who opt for public ﬁnancing. Hogan said in a news release that no tax dollars are used through the Fair Campaign Financing Fund and using it “levels the playing ﬁeld” for grassroots campaigns like his. Yet, just days earlier, following his late-in-the-game campaign kickoff, Hogan’s campaign staff issued a release naming Hogan the clear frontrunner in the GOP primary. Maryland’s primary is June 24. As of Thursday, the other Republicans who had filed to run were Harford County Executive David R. Craig and Baltimore businessman Brian Vaeth. Del. Ronald A. George (Dist. 30) of Arnold and former political action committee head Charles Lollar also are campaigning for the GOP nomination. kalexander@gazette.net

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THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page A-7

Potomac resident challenges pit bull decision ‘The problem is irresponsible ownership, not the dog’ n

BY KIRSTEN PETERSEN SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

When his owner calls, Rocco follows. The owner — Potomac resident Eric “Rick” Bernthal — beckoned his dog to join him in his sunlit sitting room early Friday morning and the chocolatecolored canine climbed into his lap without hesitation. A 3-year-old rescue dog from the Washington Humane Society, Rocco has had four leg surgeries in his short life and has only just begun to roam his home like a normal dog. Rocco is a pit bull, one of thousands in Maryland that could be separated from their owners if they were accused of biting, regardless of whether they had previously exhibited dangerous behavior. “Imagine if someone told me I couldn’t own Rocco,” Bernthal said. “He’s a member of my family. It’s just wrong.” Bernthal, chairman of the board of directors for the Humane Society of the United States, is a staunch advocate for striking down a Maryland Court of Appeals opinion that makes the dog owner liable for any damages if he knew the biting dog was a pit bull. The opinion, also known as the Solesky decision, does not require plaintiffs to prove the dog was dangerous if it is known that the dog is a pit bull. The decision also makes landlords liable for damages if they knew a pit bull was on their property. “The problem is irresponsible ownership, not the dog,” Bernthal said. “Breed-specific legislation has the impact of denying to people ownership of dogs that they would love to have as pets, but it also has this profound impact on particular dogs. “It’s a death warrant for them because these dogs end up in shelters, people don’t adopt them, and they’re put down.” Bernthal did not grow up with pit bulls, but dogs have always been a part of his family, he said. From age 4 to 60 he raised boxers but he adopted his first pit bull after his son, “Mob City” actor Jon Bernthal, introduced him to the breed. “I began to learn, even before I was on the board, how much prejudice there is and how desperately they need homes,” Bernthal said. “These pit bulls are animals which have a terrible reputation, and it’s completely undeserved.” Bernthal, a retired corporate lawyer, first got involved with the Humane Society of the United States, the country’s largest animal protection organization, after accepting a pro bono case about horse soring, the illegal practice of intentionally inflicting pain on a horse’s hooves to

Formerly of the Washington Humane Society, Rocco had four leg surgeries. encourage an exaggerated gait called the “Big Lick.” He said he had always been interested in animal rights but did not have time to take on advocacy work. Bernthal brought a 57-count indictment against a prominent trainer practicing horse soring, a successful case that seriously damaged the industry, he said. In 2007, Wayne Pacelle, the president and CEO of HSUS, encouraged him to join the board of directors, a body that oversees the nonprofit and its staff. He accepted the invitation and in 2012, Pacelle asked him to become the board’s chairman. With 26 years of experience at the law firm Latham & Watkins, 12 of them spent as a managing partner for the Washington, D.C., office, Bernthal said it would have been tough to convince him to leave it all if it weren’t for an organization like HSUS. “I love practicing law, loved the firm, building the firm, and it would have taken something really special to make me give it up and that’s what happened,” Bernthal said. The Solesky decision was announced only days after Bernthal was named as chairman. After the Maryland Court of Appeals announced its opinion in April 2012, the HSUS looked for an opportunity to challenge the ruling, finding it in a special session of the Maryland General Assembly held to discuss casino gambling. Although bills eliminating the breed-specific language passed both houses, the Senate and House versions used different language, and the chambers could not reconcile the differences. HSUS tried again during the 2013 session of the Maryland General Assembly. Legislators successfully passed bills in both chambers but the conference report, which was a compromise between the bills, was not brought up for a vote in the House of Delegates. For the current session, state Sen. Brian E. Frosh and Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons have each introduced breed-neutral dog-bite bills. “We think it’s vital that the legislation pass because this problem is still out there and it still causes people to be unable

PHOTOS BY DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Rick Bernthal, chairman of the Humane Society of the United States board, gets a kiss from his 3-year-old rescue pit bull, Rocco, at his home in Potomac. to keep pit bull dogs,” Bernthal said. Still, Bernthal said, this legislation is not the ideal solution toward the ultimate goal of preventing dog bites. “Any legislation that speaks to breed is wrong, but we would have preferred legislation that encouraged people to train their dogs and be responsible pet owners,” he said. Bernthal is modest about his accomplishments, Pacelle said, but his leadership has been a “great boon” to HSUS. “It’s very personal for Rick. He has rescued a number of pit bull-type dogs and he knows that they can make great companions,” Pacelle said. “To cast all of the animals as dangerous is wrong on the fact and is a threat to the well-being of the dogs and a real problem for the owners of these animals.” Rocco is one of ﬁve pit bulls in his family, Bernthal said, including two belonging to Jon — Boss and Venice — who are also featured in a HSUS public service announcement. Bernthal considers the dogs, his immediate family, 25 foster children, and even friends of his children members of his extended family. “Family is a big thing with me. And I can’t begin to tell you how much joy it’s brought me,” Bernthal said. For Bernthal, ﬁghting breed selective legislation is not just part of his job — it’s a family matter. “I know that the only way to overcome this fear and prejudice is one dog at a time,” Bernthal said. “If you’ve never seen a pit bull before and you see how Rocco behaves, you would be a little more open to that he’s just a dog like any other dog.”

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PRESIDENTS DAY CLOSURES IN COUNTY

1905675

n The closures include county government and school offices, libraries and liquor stores. The recreation department’s aquatics programs will meet as scheduled, and aquatic facilities and community centers will be open. But all other classes and programs will be canceled, and administrative offices and senior centers will be closed n Operating schedules for county parks, including Brookside Gardens, ice rinks, tennis centers, trains and carousels, are available at montgomeryparks.org. n Ride On buses will follow a modified holiday schedule, available at rideonbus.com. n Metrobus will follow its Saturday schedule with supplemental service; Metrorail follows its Saturday holiday schedule. The TRiPS Commuter Stores in Silver Spring and Friendship Heights will be closed.

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n The transfer station will be open, but trash and recycling pickup will be postponed by one day all week, with the last pickups on Saturday. n Parking at public garages, lots and curbside meters will be free.

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THE GAZETTE

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Washington Gas customers may see bills increase Hearings on the surcharge plan wrapped up last week

BY MARGIE HYSLOP SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

Washington Gas officials hope to persuade state regulators to approve their plan to charge customers an extra fee to pay for improvements to the utility’s old and leaking gas lines. Washington Gas’ proposal to the Maryland Public Service Commission calls for households to pay about 29 cents more per month in the first year of a five-year plan geared to generate about $200 million in revenue for the company to use for replacing obsolete and aging lines. Four days of hearings wrapped up Friday, to be followed by legal briefs, a preliminary order from the commission by March 21 and an order detailing the commission’s decision by May 6. In its application, Washington Gas proposes to spend $200 million in five years as part of a 22-year plan to spend $863 million on replacing 633 miles of main and 75,200 customer lines and connections. Washington Gas says it will target bare or unprotected steel as well as some copper, “pre-1975 plastic,” cast iron and obsolete mechanical couplings that are part of its infrastructure. Washington Gas provides service through about 449,000 active meters in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles,

Calvert, St. Mary’s and Frederick counties and 656,000 more meters in Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to its application filed Nov. 7. A law enacted last year authorizes the commission to let gas utilities charge a special fee to accelerate reasonable improvements in its infrastructure that would increase safety and reliability. The law limits the surcharge to five years, and requires that any surcharge be assessed to residential and commercial customers in a ratio proportionate to each customer class’ use. The law requires the surcharge to be capped and sets the limit at $2 per month for households. Washington Gas’ proposal calls for the surcharge to increase, based on “actual capital expenditures” over the five-year period, until the $2 cap is reached, Company Vice President Douglas A. Staebler told the commission in testimony filed with the commission. “We were hoping to find a way to give them a little more money [to improve their infrastructure],” said Del. Charles E. Barkley (D-Dist. 39) of Germantown. Last month, the commission gave Baltimore Gas and Electric conditional approval to add a surcharge to its gas customers’ bills and turned down Columbia Gas of Maryland’s surcharge request, urging the company to amend it and refile. Barkley said he thinks Washington

“Why are they not required to fully maintain the system with their money?” Imani Kazana Gas’ response in repairing its aging delivery system has been sufficient so far, but that by authorizing the commission to allow a surcharge “we hoped to get ahead of the problem.” A Washington Gas spokesman declined to discuss why the company needs the surcharge and whether it expects its request to face challenges. “…We do not comment on pending cases,” company Vice President Eric C. Grant replied in an email. Imani Kazana said she has been asking Washington Gas to fix leaks in her Avonridge neighborhood between Hyattsville and Mount Rainier for 10 years. “My neighborhood sits at the center of a major intersection of regional gas lines and we have had leaks and gas smells on a regular basis” for more than 20 years, Kazana said. Washington Gas’ proposal gives the company too much flexibility on what it

will do and where it will do it, she said. Kazana said state officials have told her that the utility doesn’t plan to make improvements in her community during the five years it wants to bill the surcharge, even though engineers have said pipes and valves there are obsolete. Sen. Victor R. Ramirez (D-Dist. 47) of Cheverly said he thinks a meeting will be set soon for Washington Gas to talk with Kazana and other residents about their concerns. “Why are they not required to fully maintain the system with their money?” Kazana said. “I don’t think we customers should be charged additional for it.” The Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington also objects to Washington Gas’ surcharge plan. Bruce R. Oliver, an economist who specializes in utility rates and regulation, said in testimony filed with the service commission on behalf of the apartment and office building association wrote that Washington Gas’ surcharge application does not provide enough detail tying project work and timelines to cost recovery. Oliver also estimated that Washington Gas’ replacement plan would not keep pace with the infrastructure’s projected lifespan. The Washington Post reported last month that a team of university researchers found nearly 5,900 gas leaks when they conducted a survey along Washington, D.C., streets,

According to the report, researchers said they found concentrations in 12 manholes that could have set the stage for explosions. They said they notiﬁed Washington Gas, but found similar concentrations at eight of those locations four months later. Gas dispersed at other leaks and posed no direct threat, but such leaks trap heat and can contribute to climate warming, the report said. Under a commission order issued last week, BGE will be allowed to bill households a monthly surcharge of 32 cents in 2014, 97 cents in 2015, $1.70 in 2016 and $2 in 2017 and 2018, but will not be allowed to add the charge to bills until BGE ﬁles a detailed list of projects and the Public Service Commission approves the list. The commission also ordered BGE to undergo an annual performance and cost audit of the projects and to adjust the surcharge as needed to make sure it is only recovering costs. In rejecting Columbia Gas of Maryland’s proposal to add $1.92 monthly surcharge to pay for improvements to its gas infrastructure, the service commission said Columbia Gas’ plan would not accelerate improvements. The commission urged the utility to submit a plan within 60 days that would maintain or surpass the infrastructure improvement rate it has already set. Most Columbia Gas customers are clustered around Hagerstown and Cumberland.

Food stamp recipients get relief Farm bill will not cut food stamp budgets

SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER

136362G

Food stamp recipients in Maryland will be spared from the cuts once proposed in the federal farm bill. President Barack Obama signed the Agriculture Act of 2014 into law on Friday. The controversial law, formerly known as the farm bill, sets U.S. agricultural and food policy for the next five years. “Marylanders won’t see additional cuts as a result of the passage of the farm bill,” Maryland Hunger Solutions spokeswoman Brooke A. McCauley said. About 34,800 households in Montgomery County receive monthly food stamp benefits. Those households are already dealing with smaller budgets due to a cut late last year. At the end of November, food stamp recipients across the country saw a 5 percent decrease in their budgets when a federal expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, expired. “There have been some families that have been affected significantly by that cut,” said JoAnn Barnes, deputy chief of the county’s Children, Youth and Family Services division. Just a few months ago, food stamp advocates worried that a draft of the Agriculture Act would deal a second blow and cut as much as $39 billion from SNAP for needy households nationwide, but the bill that became law last week does not make those changes. Households must meet certain income requirements to be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. A single household’s gross income must be 130 percent of the federal poverty level or lower. According to Brian Schleter, spokesman for the state Department of Human Resources, the rules for eligibility for SNAP in Maryland will not change, but state funding could. The department could see a $750,000 decrease in funding for outreach. “This could significantly reduce our ability to identify and enroll eligible families in needed services,” he said in an email. The Capital Area Food Bank, which serves Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Washington counties; D.C. and northern Virginia, receives funding from the Maryland Department of Human Resources. For the calendar year 2014, the organization received $18,000 in outreach funding for Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, which it matches. It is not yet clear if the state will reduce its funding for the food bank’s outreach next year.

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

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Montgomery representatives split on farm bill Legislation has passed House, Senate; now awaits president’s signature n

SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County’s congressional representatives were split over the muchdebated farm bill, which Congress passed and sent to the president’s desk. The farm bill, ofﬁcially known as the Agricultural Act of 2014, would set U.S. agricultural and food policy for the next ﬁve years. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (DDist. 8) and three other Maryland congressmen voted no in the House on Jan. 29. Rep. John Delaney (D-Dist. 6), one of two Maryland representatives who voted for the bill, praised his colleagues’ work

toward cooperation and bipartisanship in Congress. Two representatives did not vote. The measure passed the House, 251-166. Both of Maryland’s U.S. senators voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday, where it passed 68-32. President Barack Obama hasn’t said if he will sign it. Delaney said that without a farm bill, many programs essential to agriculture in Maryland would be underfunded. Van Hollen said the bill contained too much pork-barrel spending. “My focus has been on helping small family farmers,” he said, “but this bill included huge taxpayer subsidies to large agribusinesses.” The farm bill continues a program that makes loans available to companies that grow sugar cane domestically and an income protection plan for cotton producers. Maryland consumers and taxpayers

will be paying for those programs, Van Hollen said. “This unfortunately was a missed opportunity for some long-overdue reform,” he said. Part of the nearly 1,000-page bill addresses the volatility of milk prices in the dairy industry. Currently, the federal government directly pays dairies when the price of milk falls below a ﬁxed minimum. Under the new legislation, dairy farmers would have the option to buy an insurance policy that would pay out when high feed prices push proﬁt margins below an established threshold. Van Hollen said that part of the bill was “the best balance we could achieve” after heavy debates between interest groups and members of Congress. Delaney said he was surprised that so few Maryland representatives supported the bill, but the long process for this piece

of legislation required a lot of compromise. “The farm bill went through a very exhaustive and confrontational life cycle to get to the point where we had a SenateHouse conference,” he said. Van Hollen said members of Congress had little time — about 48 hours — to review the current version of the bill before a vote was held in the House; that compromised their ability to read and debate it. The bill couldn’t please everyone, both congressmen said. “Of course it could be better, but at some point, you have to get along,” Delaney said. Van Hollen’s district includes parts of Montgomery, Frederick and Carroll counties. Delaney’s district includes upper Montgomery County and western Frederick County, as well as Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties.

HOW THEY VOTED Andy Harris (R-Dist. 1): No Dutch A. Ruppersberger (D-Dist.2): Did not vote John Sarbanes (D-Dist. 3): No Donna Edwards (D-Dist. 4): Did not vote Steny Hoyer (D-Dist. 5): Yes John Delaney (D-Dist. 6): Yes Elijah Cummings (D-Dist. 7): No Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8): No

Shetty running for Bill would add vehicle registration surcharge District 18 seat Proposal comes on heels of task force recommendations

Key platforms are healthcare and education

director of federal legislative affairs, advocating on Capital Hill for blood cancer patients. Shetty announced her District 18 candidacy on Jan. 15. BY PEGGY MCEWAN Education is one of her key isSTAFF WRITER sues. Shetty said she has a plan Community service has for improving the education been Emily Shetty’s mantra for system in Montgomery County the past 21 years, so making and across the state with a a bid for a the District 18 seat formula based on current enin the General Assembly is no rollment and enrollment projections, for getting reach for this civicschool funding dolminded Wheaton lars from Annapolis. resident. She would also like When she was to ensure adequate just 9 years old, support systems in Shetty, a Democrat, schools that need started her commuthem, by targeted nity service career funding for counselworking in a public ors and school psylibrary in High Point, Shetty chologists. N.C. On the transportation “That was about the only place where they would take front, Shetty is a proponent of kids that young,” said Shetty, the construction of the Purple Line which, she said, would 30. Since then she has volun- put more people on Metro and teered with Big Brothers Big fewer on the roads. That would Sisters, a volunteer mentoring allow them to spend more time organization; tutored students with their families. As a health care advocate in high school; taught English to immigrants and their families; for cancer patients, Shetty said and worked every Saturday dur- she believes Maryland needs ing her junior year in high school people who will advocate for patients on the state level such with Habitat for Humanity. “It was a real honor to have as the navigators available to that opportunity to serve in so help with the national Affordmany different ways and to able Care Act. “One key area [where] I’d get to know my community,” Shetty said. “My mom was an like to see more investment inspiration, she was an im- is mental health care,” Shetty migrant [from Bulgaria] and said. “We should be proactive raised me and my sister on her in funding crucial safety net own. She instructed us to give programs to avoid tragedy before it occurs.” back to the community.” Shetty said her campaign After high school Shetty, who was raised in North Caro- had raised more than $13,000, lina, attended Duke Univer- as of Jan. 15, and she expects to sity, majoring in mathematics need from $100,000 to $120,000 with a minor in market and to run a competitive campaign. management. She moved to That will come from personal the Washington, D.C., area to and professional networks. “People I know from comattend law school at Catholic munity work, my work on University. Then, she said, she de- Capital Hill and through my cided to turn her experience of current professional circle,” volunteer service to a career in she wrote in an email. Shetty, who ﬁled as a canpublic service. She worked for then-U.S. didate on Feb. 3, will face inRep. Edolphus Towns, a Dem- cumbents Alfred Carr, Ana ocrat from New York, starting Sol Gutierrez and Jeff Waldas an unpaid intern and ending streicher and declared candidates Rick Kessler, Elizabeth as his legislative director. That job was good experi- Matory and Natali Fani-Gonence for representing District zalez in the Democratic pri18, she said, as Towns’ rep- mary in June for the three seats resented an economically di- representing District 18, which includes Kensington, Garrett verse community. In July 2012 Shetty joined Park, Chevy Chase, Wheaton, the staff of the Leukemia and and parts of Rockville and SilLymphoma Society as senior ver Spring.

KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER

A Montgomery County state senator has filed a bill that would allow a county or municipal corporation to impose an annual vehicle registration surcharge of up to $20 to go toward transportation improvements. The legislation filed by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington comes on the heels of a task force’s report to find more revenue for transportation, even after the gasoline tax and tolls were raised last year. Each dollar raised by a local entity would be matched by the state under the proposal. The Local and Regional Transportation Funding Task Force, formed last year, recommended in its final report in December that “further consideration” be given to a new vehicle registration surcharge, raising the

local income tax rate and other proposals. Madaleno, who could not be reached for comment, was a member of the task force. If such a fee were implemented by counties and cities in Maryland to the $20 level, the state transportation department estimated that $96 million could be raised each year, according to the task force report. Christopher Summers, president of the Rockville-based Maryland Public Policy Institute, said it wasn’t a surprise that ofﬁcials are seeking more funding sources for transportation. He said it would be better for state and local entities to commission an independent audit that would prioritize transportation projects according to how effective they would be at

alleviating traffic congestion, and doubted that the proposed Purple Line between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties would rank high on the list. “That project will do little to actually alleviate traffic congestion,” Summers said. The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, Greater Silver Spring chamber and Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase chamber are among the groups supporting the Purple Line. Less than 10 percent of Maryland residents use mass transit, yet the majority of the transportation financing funding passed last year will be spent on mass transit projects, Summers said. He called on state officials

to stop using transportation funds to plug holes in the state budget and to put more funds into maintenance and repairs to roads and bridges that drivers use the most. A hearing on the bill is slated for Feb. 19 in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. The task force also recommended that ofﬁcials review expanding the local income tax rate to have that increase go toward transportation. If a 0.05 percent increase to the income tax was implemented, the state estimated that $107 million would be generated annually. Another proposal could include increasing real estate transfer taxes. kshay@gazette.net

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Linkages to Learning may expand soon Can Metro and BRT play County budget may include funds to add staff, sites at schools n

RYAN MARSHALL AND LINDSAY POWERS STAFF WRITERS

A long-standing program serving Montgomery County students and their families is hoping to see some more program sites and increased staffing as the county’s operating budget takes shape. The Linkages to Learning program, which includes sites at schools around the county, could receive a boost in county funding after the country’s economic downturn halted a trend of increasing funding and resulted in cuts to the program. In fiscal 2013, the program served more than 5,000 students at 26 Montgomery schools, according to a copy of the program’s six-year strategic plan. It provided comprehensive mental health and social services to about 3,700 of those students through a partnership between the school system and the county’s Department of Health and Human Services. Among other components of a multifaceted proposal, the plan would affect about 17 schools where county resources would either establish new sites or increase staffing. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) has said he would like to begin restoring funding to some county programs, but be careful not to return to spending as usual. The amount of funding for the Linkages program has not yet been set. County spokesman Patrick Lacefield said the county’s operating budget is still being developed, and isn’t scheduled to be released until March 17. The program emerged from a 1991 County Council resolution urging the County Executive and Montgomery County Public Schools to set up a program that would offer comprehensive,

In ﬁscal 2013, the program served more than 5,000 students at 26 Montgomery schools, according to a copy of the program’s six-year strategic plan. school-based services to students to help them deal with a range of social and economic issues. The resolution specifically targeted poverty, poor health care, difﬁculty speaking English, emotional issues and unfamiliarity with the types of mental health and social services programs available as obstacles to the success of students and their families. The Linkages program established a pilot program in 1993 at Summit Hall Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Harmony Hills Elementary School in Silver Spring and the Rocking Horse Road International Student Center in Rockville. County Council President Craig Rice, who is the chairman of the council’s Education Committee, said Tuesday that the program has been a phenomenal success for Montgomery. Providing a wide variety of services to students is key to helping all students succeed and close the achievement gap that often exists between poor students and others, he said. That might range from helping to ensure the student is healthy to making sure they’re fed adequately or helping to identify if the student is living in a home plagued by domestic violence, he said. “It’s a true wrap-around of that child,” to make sure they’re getting all the necessary services available, Rice said. Linkages has usually picked which sites it will operate in based on what percentage of a school’s students qualify for the federal government’s free and reduced meals program, according to the strategic plan. The meal program is an indication of poverty in the county

school system. The number of Montgomery residents born outside the United States increased from 18.6 percent to 32.2 percent from 1990 to 2010, while the percentage of households that don’t speak English at home increased from 21.2 percent to 37.5 percent from 1990 to 2008, according to the plan. Almost 20,000 students receive teaching in English for Speakers of Other Languages, nearly double the number in 2000. And the county’s number of students who receive free or reduced meals increased by more than 20,000 students from 2000 to 2012, with nearly 49,400 such students in the county’s public schools in 2012. The program strives to tailor its operation to the speciﬁc needs that are identified at each school. It also works to try and help students’ parents and families as well as the students themselves. New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring would be among the schools to receive more county resources in the form of a full-time community service aide to supplement its staff. Marinda Thomas Evans, principal at New Hampshire Estates, said school staff refer students to the Linkages program, usually for non-academic supports, Evans said. Students could be facing situations in which their family lost a family member or a home, she said, while others might be experiencing medical issues or a lack of clothing. Last school year, about 90 percent of New Hampshire Es-

tates’ students received free and reduced-price meals. Evans said the school is unable to refer all the students it would like to send to Linkages because the program workers have a limited caseload. “That’s disheartening,” she said. Kirian Villalta, New Hampshire Estates’ PTA president, said Linkages conducts “a lot of outreach to parents.” Villalta said that many families at the school are from other countries and, though well-educated, sometimes have a difﬁcult time ﬁnding a job in the U.S. Linkages, she said, provides counseling to family members to help them be productive in new ways with the skill sets they have. David Chia, principal at Wheaton Woods Elementary School in Rockville, said the Linkages site in his school currently includes a site coordinator, a social worker and a therapist. According to the strategic plan, the part-time site coordinator at Wheaton Woods would become a full-time position. The number of students Linkages serves at a given time varies, Chia said, but is usually around 20. “Right now we’re at the maintenance level,” he said.

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nice in the Town Center? Rockville trying to ﬁgure out where new transit system will ﬁt in n

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

The county has high hopes for a bus rapid transit system that will intersect with Metro lines, but building a transit utopia isn’t as easy as plunking a few extra large buses down on Rockville Pike. The city of Rockville is launching a study to ﬁgure out how bus rapid transit might best ﬁt around the Rockville Metro station in Town Center. Andrew Gunning, assistant director of Rockville’s planning department, said the city wants some good design ideas that it can promote at the state and county level. “We need to get in front of this,” he said. “... Our concerns in the Town Center are not necessarily something that would be on their radar.” The county’s plan for bus rapid transit, or BRT, has three corridors converging at or near the Rockville Metro station on Md. 355. From there, bus lines are planned to run

north to Clarksburg, south to the District line and southeast to Wheaton. Gunning said it makes sense to have routes link up at the station, but the area is already busy, and making room for BRT is going to be a challenge. “If these routes do advance, they would provide our residents with more travel options, so that would conceptually be a good thing, but we have challenges, too,” he said. Rockville’s Town Center is built up to the western edge of Md. 355, while the Metro station and its parking lots are close to the eastern side of the road. The intersection with East Middle Lane and Park Road, to the north of the station, is already one of the worst in the city, and Md. 28 crosses Rockville Pike at a complex intersection one block to the south, heading west as East Jefferson Street and east as Veirs Mill Road. Gunning said the city wants to look at its options — which may be limited — for adding BRT to the existing infrastructure. “There’s a lot of constraints and limitations in a very tight area, so we’re just trying to get in front of that,” Gunning said.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Tuberculosis case is conﬁrmed at Watkins Mill High Students, staff must wait up to 10 weeks for testing

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Someone at Watkins Mill School has been sick with tuberculosis, but there is only a small chance that others at the Gaithersburg school may have been infected, according to Montgomery County health officials. School officials would not identify the person or say if the victim is a student or a staff member. The person is being treated and students and staff are no longer exposed to the disease, according to a Feb. 6 letter to parents from county health officer Ulder J. Tillman and Principal Scott Murphy. Tuberculosis, a contagious bacterial disease, usually affects the lungs and also can affect the brain, kidneys and spine, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet sent to parents. Cindy Edwards, a senior nurse administrator at the county Department of Health and Human Services, said she doesn’t anticipate the individual will have infected others at the school. Edwards said county officials will look at the individual’s schedule and determine who at the school might have been in close enough contact in late 2013 or early 2014 to warrant testing them for infection. County health officials will test the individual’s family members, she said. She said she didn’t have an estimate for how many people might need to be tested as the health department is still investigating. Watkins Mill has about 1,425 students and 175 staff members, according to county school system spokesman Dana Tofig. Students and staff would not catch tuberculosis just walking through the hall near the person, Edwards said. “It does require a pretty significant exposure,” she said. “It has to be repeated and it has to be close exposure.” The letter to parents said there is a “very small” chance that a student has been infected and that a person would usually need to be in close contact in a small room for about eight hours with the affected individual to become infected. County officials are recommending that “all students and staff who were in any class or after-school activity with this individual between October 2013 and January 2014” be tested, the letter said. Students and staff won’t be able to undergo tests to detect infection for about eight to 10 weeks — until late March — because tuberculosis has a long incubation period, Edwards said. “It’s hard to wait, but there’s science behind why there’s no need to go test this right now,” she said. In early March, the health department will contact those who should be tested, the letter said. Edwards said she doesn’t think a person would show symptoms of the disease before the eight- to 10-week period is over. Anyone exhibiting symptoms of tuberculosis — such as coughing, night sweats or a fever — should contact a doctor, she said. “If we find kids or staff (that have tuberculosis) at eight to 10 weeks, it’s very treatable,” Edwards said. The county health department will conduct free blood tests at the school for students

at staff, she said. Because the disease is spread through the air, she said, there’s not much the school can do. “There’s no particular cleaning that needs to be done,” she said. In 2012, the most recent year with available data, the entire county had 85 cases of tuberculosis, Edwards said. Susan Young — president of the school’s parent, teacher and staff association — said “it’s not a thrilling situation,” but she thinks the school has responded well with the help of the county health department. Young said she doesn’t know how much her son was around the affected individual and that he will get tested only if the health department indicates it is necessary. She said the school community has remained calm. “For the most part, I really don’t think there’s a sense of panic at all,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net

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Teacher charged with sex abuse held without bail Lawrence Joynes is charged with victimizing 1 middle-school, 14 elementary students n

BY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITER

A former Montgomery County music teacher who prosecutors said faked his own death to keep a sex-abuse victim from confronting him was held without bail Friday. The case against Lawrence W. Joynes, 55, is complicated and broad. He is charged with abusing 14 elementary school students during about 10 years teaching at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring. Joynes taught for the county for 27 years, according to school ofﬁcials. Prosecutors also said that Joynes engaged in an inappropriate and abusive relationship with a 15th victim — now an adult — when she was a student at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring in the 1990s. According to his charging documents, Joynes molested her and had sex with her over the course of three years. All told, he faces 15 counts of sex abuse, four counts of com-

mitting a sex offense, and one count of second-degree rape. Montgomery County District Judge Eugene Wolfe cited the nature of the charges against Joynes, formerly of Dundalk, as a reason not to set a bail amount and keep him incarcerated. Wolfe’s ruling came after Joynes pleaded guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court to one count of possessing child pornography. On Thursday, a judge there sentenced him to time served — about a year — and ordered him to register as a sex offender, according to online court records. The plea and sentencing in Baltimore allow prosecutors to pursue the charges against Joynes in Montgomery County. Montgomery law enforcement officials first learned about Joynes after he was snared in a child porn investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Baltimore County police. Some of the images were of victimswhoappearedtobeMontgomery County students, according to charging documents. Federal and Baltimore County authorities contacted Montgomery County police, which got involved in the investigation. That led to new charges in two separate Mont-

“The defendant not only falsified a death certificate to fake his own death, but also at different times, impersonated different individuals in order to avoid prosecution and discovery.” gomery County cases — one involving New Hampshire Estates Elementary School, the other involving Eastern Middle School. Montgomery County police said in his charging documents they found thousands of images of child pornography on one of his computers and on other digital devices he owned. According to the charging documents in the first Montgomery case against Joynes — which pertains to his time teaching at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School — prosecutors say Joynes abused

14 young girls. The school serves students in preschool through second grade, according to the school’s website. According to charging documents, Joynes trained a group of his favorite students, his “lunch bunch,” to engage in sexually suggestive behavior — like sucking on his fingers or on candy — while he photographed and videotaped them. In Montgomery County District Court in Rockville, Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy Hagan argued that Joynes should be held without bail until his trial. “The risk of flight is high here,” Hagan told Wolfe. Hagan said that when the woman who had attended Eastern Middle School tried to contact Joynes and confront him about the abuse, Joynes malingered to avoid being found. “The defendant not only falsified a death certificate to fake his own death, but also at different times, impersonated different individuals in order to avoid prosecution and discovery,” Hagan said. Alan C. Drew, Joynes’ public defender, said Joynes deserved a reasonable bail. “Regardless of the nature of the allegations, they are just allegations,” Drew said. sjbsmith@gazette.net

THE GAZETTE

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LEAD

Continued from Page A-1 attention” to the girls and he may have spoken to them. On Tuesday, police said they are looking for answers about an event that, still years later, remains a mystery. The case riveted the attention of the greater Washington area as police and volunteers spent weeks searching for the girls. Police combed the area with helicopters and dogs; citizens-band radio enthusiasts combed the woods. There was an alleged sighting of two girls bound and gagged in a car in Manassas, but that tip went nowhere. Police said they are trying to find out more information about Welch, whom they say worked for many years as a carnival ride operator. According to police, his job allowed him to travel across the country, including Austin, Texas, and Sioux City, Iowa. Police said they have documented his travels from 1974 to his incarceration in 1997 through locations in Maryland, Florida, California, Iowa, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware, and possibly New York. Investigators are trying to ﬁgure

SAFETY

Continued from Page A-1 of safety that made it common for kids to walk to the local mall unattended. “These things don’t happen, we thought, in Montgomery County,” said Hedda Denton, who had two young daughters at the time. She would listen to the girls’ father, John Lyon, on WMAL radio as she drove to different schools for her job as a speech therapist. Chris Core of WTOP radio worked with Lyon at WMAL when the girls went missing. He said listeners loved Lyon’s “smooth style, soft humor.” And he recalled Lyon’s courage in coming

RESERVES

Continued from Page A-1 money,” Burda said. The town sent out a questionnaire about the reserve funds in January, and about 100 people sent in ideas for what to do with the money, Burda said. City staff took the ideas with the

LEDECKY

Continued from Page A-1 was said and done Saturday, after swimming four races in a two-hour time span when most normal people probably wanted to go home and take a nap or spend some time celebrating with teammates, Ledecky more than willingly hung around the facility to chat with more fans, of all ages. “It’s great to get the support

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

out if Welch was involved in any criminal activity in those places. The girls’ disappearance “really rattled the community, I think the entire county. Everyone in Montgomery County was shocked by this,” said Harry Geehreng, a detective with the department’s Juvenile Aid Unit when the girls vanished. “We got more tips than we could handle,” he said in a phone interview after the press conference. “So many tips, so many leads. It was difﬁcult to follow them all, but we did.” He welcomed the news that police believed they might be closer to solving the girls’ disappearance. “If they could crack this case, I’d be so happy,” Geehreng said. “It’d be very welcome news to all of us and to the community ... if for no other reason than to know what happened to these girls,” he said. Welch bore a similarity to a sketch that police created, using information a witness provided of a man who may have been following the girls, Manger said. During the press conference, he gave more details about Welch, whom he said may have had a connection to the area around the Walter Reed Annex in Silver Spring.

Welch was once arrested in the mid-1970s in connection with a burglary just blocks away from Wheaton Plaza, which is now called the Westﬁeld Wheaton Mall. The outcome of that case couldn’t be determined on Tuesday. Welch had a reputation as a drifter who frequently hitchhiked and walked along the railroad tracks between Kensington and Silver Spring. He sometimes worked as a landscaper, Manger said. In many of those travels, his girlfriend, Helen Craver, accompanied him, Manger said. She also worked for the carnival company. She died in 2009. “That’s what our cold case detectives have been able to establish,” he said, before asking for help from the public. “We know we’re asking people to remember things they may not want to think about,” said Steve Vogt, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Baltimore, stressing the importance of the public providing any information they had. “The family deserves closure, just as you do. ... Please contact us if you have anything to share,” he said. Investigators are trying to find out more information

about Craver, as well as a security guard working at the mall the day the girls disappeared, Manger said. The security guard — whom police are trying to identify — may have had contact with Welch, he said. “All of these folks, we believe ... could help us ﬁll in some of the blanks and assist us and determine more information about Mr. Welch ...,” Manger said. Through police, the Lyon family released a statement Tuesday about the disappearance of their daughters. “Throughout these years our hope for a resolution of this mystery have been sustained by the support and efforts of countless members of law enforcement, the news media and the community. The fact that so many people still care about this case means a great deal to us. ... We are grateful for any information the public can provide to help bring this story to its conclusion, and ask that the family’s privacy be respected during this time,” the family said. Anyone who may have encountered Welch has been asked to call investigators at 800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

back to work several weeks later. “When you’re on the radio, it’s a very intimate medium,” especially with the personality-driven radio of the time, Core said. “It’s like the story can never go away,” he said. “It’s something that’s stuck with the Washington community in such an incredible way, partly because everything about it was so innocent.” People still ask Core about the case. “I can remember years later when my daughter was that age and wanted to go to the mall, and I was just sick to my stomach,” Core said. Montgomery County police said Tuesday that they believe a convicted sex offender, who

is now incarcerated, may have had contact with the girls at the mall the day they disappeared. Police are asking for the public’s help in ﬁlling in details about the man, his former girlfriend and a mall security guard. Jamie Freedman of Gaithersburg was just 3 when her parents took her to the Wheaton mall that day to see her ﬁrst movie, “Escape from Witch Mountain.” When they exited the theater, “the place was swarming with police,” Freedman’s parents told her. Growing up in Potomac, she remembers the case coming up often throughout elementary school in safety talks. Jane Harding saw police sweeping the woods behind her

house on McComas Avenue, just south of the mall, after the girls went missing. They wouldn’t tell her what happened at ﬁrst. Her daughter was a few years older than the Lyon sisters. “It was such a tragedy,” she said. “Everybody was so frightened. ... [Our kids] couldn’t go anywhere or do anything because we were so traumatized by it,” said Toni Ward, another neighbor. Her son, Dan Parker, was in Sheila’s seventh-grade class. Ward said Parker often walked to the mall and local swim club with his high school-aged siblings. Parker saw the sisters walking down Drumm Avenue

around the time of their disappearance, though he wasn’t sure if it was the evening before or the day the girls went missing. He rode the bus to school with the Lyon sisters and said Sheila was “a quiet, nice person.” “We used to cut through the woods and go up to the plaza,” Parker said. But “everything kind of did change. Everyone was on this heightened alert, and it was scary as a kid.” Ward told her kids to stop taking the cut-through path in the woods. John Hanrahan, who was working at a clothing shop at Wheaton Plaza the day the girls disappeared, said it had been a busy day. He thought he saw the girls stop by. It was one of the

last places they were reportedly seen. The police came in during their investigation shortly after the sisters went missing, and posted Sheila’s and Katherine’s pictures around the mall, he said. Hanrahan’s father, an amateur radio enthusiast, was one of hundreds of people who combed the woods for weeks and walked along the Beltway looking for them, he recalled. “It was a different world back then. People were a little more community-oriented back then,” he said. “It felt like you had lost part of your innocence when it happened.”

most support and presented them at a forum Sunday afternoon to get further comments. “We think this is an important opportunity for our residents to weigh in,” Burda said. At the forum, posters outlining some of the ideas, along with pros and cons, were placed around a room in the town ofﬁces. Some of the

potential uses for the money included upping charitable contributions, putting in more sidewalks, holding more events and burying power lines. Residents who turned out for the forum were asked to peruse the ideas and then vote for their top picks or write in other ideas. Another forum is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Town Manager Todd Hoffman said the healthy reserve fund is an accumulation of revenues over the years. The town, which did away with its property taxes this year, gets 90 percent of its revenue from income taxes in a formula set by the state. Over the past 10 years, those revenues have varied from $2.2 million to $5.1 million each year, depend-

ing in part on how the stock market is doing. Revenues rose around 2006, dipped in 2009 and are now heading up again. The town also cut expenses during the recession and implemented measures to save on contracting costs, Hoffman said. “We’ve also really done our due diligence,” Hoffman said. Hoffman said the Town

Council will probably end up putting some of the money to capital projects, some to reserves and some to special projects based on residents’ feedback. “It’s a way to engage our residents in the decision-making process,” he said.

of this community and [Metros] really exempliﬁes that,” Ledecky said. “I was in [those fans’] place 10 years ago, some of the little kids, getting autographs from Olympians, so I know what it means to them and I deﬁnitely want to give them my autograph if they want it. It’s fun to see them so excited about the sport, I’m really happy to see that.” Ledecky won three of four events she contested Saturday — she also anchored the second-place 400-yard freestyle

relay — setting a Metros and national high school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute, 42.38 seconds). Stone Ridge in turn repeated last year’s ﬁrst top 5 performance in a decade. The biggest headline, however, came in Friday’s 500-yard freestyle preliminaries, when Ledecky added yet another record to her already-impressive resume by breaking a six-year American record to become the ﬁrst woman to break the 4 minute, 30 second barrier, in 4:28.71.

“On Friday I was fresh and I was ready to go and I just laid it all in the water,” Ledecky said. “It’s been a goal of mine to break 4:30, I’ve had my eye on that for a while and it feels really good to get that done,” In addition to Friday’s new mark Ledecky now holds American records in the 400- and 800-meter and 1,650-yard freestyle and world records in the 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle. Her blossoming career has put her in the spotlight worldwide,

something Ledecky said she is becoming more and more comfortable with. “I mean, it’s inspiring to a lot of little kids, but you see her race her 500 before you swim and you’re like, ‘OK, I’m going to race my race like that,’ and realistic or not, it just inspires you to go fast,” Churchill senior Alicia Tiberino said after Saturday’s meet. “Watching her swim any event, even warming down people are like, ‘Oh my God, I touched her foot!’ Being in close proximity to her made a lot of people really happy. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, I get to race an Olympian.’” Ledecky has risen to star-

dom in an age where social media enables fans to connect to their role models. The four-time world champion, whose Twitter account has grown to more than 18,000 followers across the world. Still she remains grounded, seemingly unfazed by her fame, and truly appreciative of the support and admiration that’s coming from every which way. “I’m more comfortable [being a role model], I’ve progressed through the years and gotten used to all this,” Ledecky said. “It’s been a fun ride, I just remember being in their place.”

sjbsmith@gazette.net

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THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page A-13

BUSINESS

Biotech startups fret over incubator plans n

Duncan: Proposal to move companies is ‘very big issue’ for county BY

RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County’s biotechnology businesses are concerned about the effect of a county plan to move companies out of a Gaithersburg center for beginning businesses. The county plans to renovate the William Hanna Center for Innovation at Shady Grove to make it the home for the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence,forcingbiotechandothercompaniesatthefacility to ﬁnd new space. The biotech industry is a community, whose members rely on each other for information and customer referrals, said Dietmar Wolf, executive vice president of AnalytiCon Discovery, which is at the Hanna Center. Wolf spoke Thursday at a gathering of biotech companies for a meeting with Douglas M. Duncan, a Democratic candidate for Montgomery County executive. Duncan, a former county executive, is running against incumbent Isiah Leggett and Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg. Duncan criticized the decision to move the cybersecurity center into the Gaithersburg facility and relocate many biotech companies to the Germantown area.

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Douglas M. Duncan, a candidate for Montgomery County executive, meets with current and former tenants of the William Hanna Innovation Center at GeneDX in Gaithersburg on Thursday to discuss the county’s plan to close the biotech incubator.

“This is a very signiﬁcant issue for the future of this county,” Duncan said. He said he plans to send a letter to the County Council asking it to reconsider the issue. Surely, there’s another location in the county for the cybersecurity facility, he said. “Why does it have to be at this facility? Why can’t the county do both?” Duncan asked. Montgomery started nurturing the biotechnology and life sciences industry in the early 1980s, he said. Duncan said if the county follows through with the plan, it would send a message to the world that Montgomery is losing interest in life sciences.

The county believes it can remain one of the nation’s top life sciences region while also establishing itself as a center of the cybersecurity industry, said Kristina Ellis, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Economic Development. “We’re just unique in thinking we can be a leader in both,” she said. Life sciences in the county seems to be moving toward the Germantown region anyway, she said. Meanwhile, the Hanna Center’s proximity to the National Institute of Standards and Technology makes it a good spot for the cybersecurity facility, she said. Ellis said the county would work with the companies now at the Hanna Center to help as many as possible to move to Germantown. David Beylin, CEO of Brain Biosciences Inc., said his company moved into the Gaithersburg incubator in May and he appreciates the business “ecosystem” in the facility. The county’s plan to move the biotech companies out “is not a friendly message” that these types of companies are welcome in Montgomery, he said. Beylin said he’s not opposed to a cybersecurity center, but thinks the county should ﬁnd another place for it. Jonathan Cohen, president and CEO of 20/20 GeneSystems, said business incubators around the country and the world are trying to attract biotech companies. “We should be growing the Shady Grove innovation center, not destroying it,” Cohen said.

Retailers, restaurant opening at Bethesda mall BY KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITER

Three stores and a restaurant are expected to open to shoppers and diners at the Montgomery mall in Bethesda this spring. Opening its second Maryland location, Lilly Pulitzer designs and distributes apparel and accessories for women, children and men. The new

mall in North Bethesda to the Montgomery mall. The company was established in 1947 and has more than 500 stores in the U.S. and Canada, according to the mall’s press release. The new store will be on the lower level in the Sears wing. Naples 45 Ristorante e Pizzeria is an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria and Italian restaurant originating in New York City. It is owned by Patina Restaurant Group, which has more than 60 restaurants, including Brasserie, Lincoln Ristorante, Patina and The Sea Grill. The Montgomery Naples

45 location will be the company’s second outside New York City and its ﬁrst mall location. Naples 45 offers regional southern Italian specialties with gourmet brick-oven slices. The restaurant will be adjacent to the center’s new Dining Terrace and ArcLight Cinemas and will open later this year. Other new restaurants that came to the mall in 2013 include Bobby’s Burger Palace, The Cheesecake Factory, Wicked Wafﬂe and Kraze Burgers. kbrick@gazette.net

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Lilly Pulitzer, True Religion and Talbots are new shops

store will be on the lower level, near Center Court, according to a press release from the mall. Founded in 2002, True Religion, a men’s and women’s store selling denim, T-shirts, Western shirts and loungewear with a vintage feel is opening a new store on the lower level of the mall, along the Nordstrom wing. This is True Religion’s third store in Maryland, according to the press release. Talbots sells women’s classic apparel, shoes and accessories and will soon move from the White Flint

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BizBriefs

Have a new business in Montgomery County? Let us know about it at www.gazette.net/ newbusinessform

Mostly Monograms, but other gifts, too Jill McNamara has launched Mostly Monograms, which offers personalized monogram services and a variety of gifts. “I love to sew and create items that are fun, bright colors and different,” McNamara wrote in an email. The Bethesda business “personalizes gifts for the whole family, and we try to monogram while you wait!” Mostly Monograms also sells baby gifts, women’s and men’s accessories, Scout items, monogrammed sandals, candles, linens and hats. The store, open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, is at 5110 Ridgeﬁeld Road, No. 207. Its phone number is 301-919-6321 and its website is mostlymonograms.com.

Schuler joins investment ﬁrm Stephen Schuler, a veteran investment adviser and former president of Maryland Capital Management, has joined Bridgewater Wealth & Financial Management of Bethesda as principal and chief investment ofﬁcer. Schuler brings to Bridgewater about $200 million in client assets, increasing its total assets under management to $500 million. The company’s website is bridgewaterwealth.com.

Psychologist launches tutoring service John Leddo, an educational psychologist, has opened a new online tutoring service to help students prepare for SATs and do homework, with individual feedback provided via artiﬁcial intelligence engines. Leddo uses “his knowledge of psychology and artiﬁcial intelligence to create an affordable, interactive, software-based learning tool,” according to a statement. Education Online is at 10408 Insley St., Silver Spring, and is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Its phone number is 800-763-9133 and its website is eollearning.com.

THE GAZETTE

Page A-14

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

SCHOOL LIFE Reading is Terrific is helping first-graders learn to love reading E.A. Stonesifer of Rockville and Frank Ieardi of Laytonsville are founders of Reading is Terrific, a nonprofit organization that provides books and readers to first-graders in eight Montgomery County Title I public schools. They were interviewed Saturday and Sunday.

VOICES IN EDUCATION burg] — it was one school and one classroom. We now go to eight schools and read to over 800 students. Can you explain the program?

Frank, I know you make and distribute wooden toys to organizations who work with children in need. Is Reading is Terriﬁc an outgrowth of that?

The wood toys started as a retirement activity; I worked for IBM as a computer programmer. When I retired I went to the Montgomery County volunteer ofﬁce and they hooked me up with Wood to Wonderful, a group making toys for needy kids. Woodworking was always my hobby. When the organizers of that retired and moved to Pennsylvania, I continued the work, starting a nonproﬁt, Woodworkers for Children Charity, in 1997. The book program began in 2004. E.A. suggested it. She too knew Doug and Louise Brown, the toymaking couple who moved to Pennsylvania. They started a reading program there and suggested she start one in Montgomery County and get in touch with me to help her. Can you tell me about that, E.A.?

books. Our budget is between $20,000 and $25,000 this year. United Way has provided signiﬁcant funding through its Community Impact Grants but unfortunately we do not qualify under their new rules. They are not funding organizations with budgets less than $50,000. We have developed other sources including grants from the Phase Foundation and IBM and we have generous individual donors.

We started nine years ago at Rosemont Elementary School [Gaithers-

Stonesifer: We have readers who go into the schools once a month to read to ﬁrst-graders. All of the schools are Title I schools and each child gets a copy of the book each month, so by the end of the year they each own nine books. The program gives the students reading skills, like learning new vocabulary and predicting [outcomes]. Frank and I are really careful to choose books with good storylines and we also want excellent illustrations — they are ﬁrst-graders.

What does this program mean to you?

Putting books into the hands of kids. Many parents can’t afford them, they are struggling to put food on the table. I read in the newspaper that it is important for kids to have books in their homes. This is an attempt to help that situation.

Are you a reader?

Stonesifer: I am, and there is no doubt that the best part of my job is being with the children. I taught secondary school in MCPS [Montgomery County Public Schools] for 31 years. Working with little ones is a real joy and to see the growth from the beginning of the year to the end. My job is to coordinate readers and the schools. We go into 47 classrooms. This year we opened a new area, Aspen Hill, Wheaton. So we added another coordinator, Kay McGuire, a retired MCPS

PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE

E.A. Stonesifer and Frank Ieardi are the founders of Reading is Terriﬁc. Their organization provides books and readers to ﬁrst-graders in eight Montgomery County Public Schools. counselor. Most of our readers are from MCPS, because that’s who I know. Frank and I do the book selection, we go to a book warehouse to purchase books two to three times a year. This year we are giving out over 800 books a month. I wish I knew how many we have given since the beginning, It’s thousands and thousands.

How about you, Frank, are you a reader?

I have done it once or twice as a substitute but my job is to deliver the books to the classrooms. Each book has a bookplate where the kids can put their name. I put those in, with help. I also do the fundraising, writing grants to get the money for the

More information about the Reading is Terriﬁc program can be found online at www.woodentoy.org. Those interested in becoming readers with the program can email wonderfulnice@ aol.com. “Voices in Education” is a twicemonthly feature that highlights the men and women who are involved with the education of Montgomery County’s children. To suggest someone you would like to see featured, email Peggy McEwan at pmcewan@gazette.net.

EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Budding grand masters enjoy competitive success

of original paintings by Herman Maril, an American modernist who was born in Baltimore and was a professor at the University of Maryland for more than 30 years.

More than 20 students from the chess club at Wood Acres Elementary School in Bethesda participated Feb. 1 in the 2014 Greater Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Chess Tournament in Baltimore, bringing home both individual and team trophies. Fourth-grader Miles Stewart took ﬁrst place in the Varsity K-5 Division and his team, which also included Aksel Bell,

Round House offers summer theater programs

Pascal Bell, Arden Hoehn-Saric and Zach Yaqub, won second

place in that division. Wood Acres third-graders were ﬁrst in the Varsity K-3 Division. That team comprised

Hari Mahaeswaran, Conner Khovananth, Conrad Decressin and Ben Adams.

“The chess program is a big activity at Wood Acres,” said parent coordinator Andrew Stewart. “We competed in four divisions in Baltimore.” Every Wednesday, before and after school, club members meet to learn new moves and play against each other, testing their new skills. There are 70 members of the club, which meets under the tutelage of coach Victor Sherman. “Mr. Sherman has been teaching chess for over 30 years,” Stewart wrote in an email. “He was [formerly] the head coach for the City of Leningrad.” Interest in the chess club, which includes both boys and girls from kindergarten through ﬁfth grade, ranges from those who want to learn to play socially to those interested in competition. “As chess has gained popu-

ANDREW STEWART

Members of the chess club at Wood Acres Elementary School in Bethesda, some of whom are pictured here, competed Feb. 1 in the 2014 Greater MidAtlantic Scholastic Chess Tournament in Baltimore. larity in the Wood Acres community, Wood Acres students have been achieving outstanding success in major scholastic tournaments,” Stewart wrote. The students are now preparing for the Maryland Elementary School Chess Championships on March 8 at Dumbarton Middle School in Towson.

Three students honored with art awards Maryland Comptroller

Peter V.R. Franchot presented

his Maryland Masters Awards to three Montgomery County students at a ceremony Jan. 27 at Newport Mill Middle School in Kensington. The awards, started by Franchot to celebrate the achievements and talents of Maryland public school students, recognizes young, talented artists who have displayed extraordinary

artistic skills, reflecting the vision of Maryland’s future, according to a news release from Franchot’s office. The honored students: • Nicholas Tucker, a fifthgrader at Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park who created an undersea scene with a stingray, fish and sea plants. • Pauline Turla, an eighthgrader at Newport Mill Middle School who used software to form small fractals for a landscape of trees and mountains. • Adam Anderson, a senior at Winston Churchill High School’s Academy of the Creative and Performing Arts in Potomac, who digitally photographed a decommissioned railroad engine at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. The students’ art will be on exhibit for two months at Franchot’s office in Annapolis. Their work will join a collection

Round House Theatre is offering summer programs for anyone kindergarten age and older. The theater offers one- and two-week classes where students can express their imaginations, create plays and learn theater from both sides of the spotlights, according to a news release. The programs run June 16 through Aug. 22 in Silver Spring and Bethesda. For more information, call 301-585-1225, visit roundhousetheatre.org, or email education@roundhousetheatre.org.

Peace groups sponsor writing contest Maryland seventh- and eighth-graders are invited to enter the Fred B. Benjamin Peace Writing Contest, a competition focusing on the themes of peace and social justice. To enter, students must submit an entry of up to 1,200 words on the following topic: “You learn that a friend at school has received repeated cruel and intimidating text messages from other classmates. Some of these communications have even suggested that your friend deserves to be hurt in some way. Your friend also has been contacted in this manner by text messages and email and

through social media such as Facebook, MySpace, Tumblr and Formspring. You realize that these actions are not a joke and need to be stopped. You decide to work with other students to develop a strategy for ending the cyber bullying. Explain what you will do.” The contest is sponsored by Anne Arundel Peace Action, the Maryland Peace Action Education Fund, the Benjamin Peace Foundation of Garrett Park, and the Peace and Justice Center of Annapolis Friends Meeting. It is open to seventh- and eighthgraders in public or private schools and home-schoolers. Four cash prizes will be awarded: $350 for ﬁrst place, $250 for second place, $150 for third place and $100 for fourth place. The winners also will be honored at a ceremony, although attendance is not required to receive an award. Entries must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet including the student’s name, address and phone number or email address; school’s name, address and phone number; and the name of the teacher sponsor, if applicable. Entries and accompanying materials must be postmarked by April 30 and mailed to Fred B. Benjamin Peace Writing Contest, 310 Riverview Ave., Annapolis, MD 21403-3328. Anne Arundel Peace Action and the Maryland Peace Action Education Fund are afﬁliated with Peace Action, a grassroots peace and disarmament organization with about 100,000 members nationwide. For more information, call 410-263-7409 or email mjkeller@att.net.

Starr to host book club discussion on hope County schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr will host his ﬁrst book club discussion of the school year at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 in the auditorium of the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville. The book is “Making Hope Happen” by Shane Lopez, a senior scientist with the Gallup organization. He is the chief architect of the Gallup Student Poll — taken by more than 1 million public school students, including Montgomery County’s — which measures hope, academic success and overall well-being on the path to determining what drives achievement. Lopez offers examples of people with high hopes who changed their lives. Starr will be joined by Lopez, who will discuss the book and take questions and comments from the audience. Those watching online or on MCPS TV (Comcast Channel 34) can participate in the conversation by sending questions via Twitter, using the hashtag #mcpsbookclub, or by sending an email to ask@mcpsbookclub.org. “Hope is a powerful factor in ensuring our students are prepared to succeed in their future,” Starr said in a statement. “Shane Lopez is one of the nation’s foremost experts on hope and I look forward to engaging with him and our community about how we can instill hope in our children.” Anyone who wants to attend the free event is asked to email pio@mcpsmd.org.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

THE GAZETTE

Page A-15

CELEBRATIONS HEALTH CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12 Diagnosing Heart Disease, from 1-2 p.m. at Friendship Heights Community Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase. Dr. Eva Hausner, cardiologist, will lead a discussion on echocardiography and other non-invasive tests that can be used to determine if you’ve had a heart attack. She will also review the signs and symptoms of heart problems and preventive strategies such as diet and exercise. Free. www.suburbanhospital.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 13

Carlson, Wechtaluk Susan Carlson and Fred Maymir-Ducharme of Potomac and Jeffrey and Mary Ann Carlson of Richmond, Va., announce the engagement of their daughter, Caitlin Marie Carlson, to Ethan Parrott Wechtaluk, son of Kathleen Parrott and David Wechtaluk of Blacksburg, Va. The bride-to-be graduated from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac in 2006. Both the future bride and groom graduated from Virginia Tech in 2010 with bachelor’s degrees. The prospective groom will receive his MBA from Penn State this August. Caitlin is employed by US Wellness in Germantown as an assistant manager. Ethan is employed by Booz Allen Hamilton in Rockville as a consultant. A July 2014 wedding is planned.

Mangum, Hamilton Lindsay Mangum of Olney announces the engagement of her sister Heather Mangum to Michael Hamilton. The wedding is set for Sept. 6, 2014. Michael asked Heather to marry him on Feb. 1, 2013, while on their trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl weekend. They will wed at her father’s estate in Kent Island at Love Point with a beautiful Bay and sunset view. Gary Mangum and Maureen Campbell are the parents of the bride-to-be, and Rita and Richard Wayne Hamilton are the parents of the prospective groom.

Better Breathers Club, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Suburban Hospital, CR 1/2 (second ﬂoor), 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Be part of a patient-centered and community-based club that supports persons with chronic lung disease including COPD, asthma, idiopathic pulmonary ﬁbrosis and lung cancer. Families, friends and support persons are welcomed. Registration required. Free. www.suburbanhospital.org.

SUNDAY, FEB. 16 Childbirth Express at MedStar Montgomery, from 1-5

p.m. at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 18101 Prince Philip Drive, Olney. Condensed version will prepare couples for their labor and birth experi-

ence. Class is presented in lecture/video format. To enhance what you learn, hands-on instruction available by taking the Lamaze Techniques class. Hospital tour included. $75. www.medstarhealth.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 25 AARP Driver Safety Class at MedStar Montgomery, 10

a.m. to 3 p.m. at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 18101 Prince Philip Drive, Olney. The nation’s first and largest refresher course for drivers age 50 and older has helped millions of drivers remain safe on today’s roads. Course is designed to help tune-up driving skills, explain safe driving strategies, and update knowledge of the rules of the road. Learn about normal age-related physical changes, and how to adjust driving to allow for these changes. Reduce traffic violations, the likelihood of crashes and chances for injuries. Some insurance companies operating in Maryland consider drivers who take the course qualified for an auto insurance premium reduction or discount. $15 for AARP members; $20 for nonmembers. Checks should be made payable to AARP to secure your registration. Mail to: MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, Planning & Marketing, 18101 Prince Philip Dr. Olney, MD 20832. www.medstarhealth.org.

RELIGION CALENDAR ONGOING Agape African Methodist Episcopal Church, 7700 Brink

Watkins, Sprankle McCallum, Calderwood Mr. and Mrs. Rick McCallum of Venice, Fla. (formerly of Clarksburg), announce the engagement of their daughter, Elizabeth Joy McCallum, to Mr. Thomas Calderwood, of Tasmania, Australia. The prospective groom is a platoon commander for the 12th/40th Royal Tasmanian Regiment, Australia, and an outdoor education/physical education teacher and head of house at Guilford Young College. The bride-to-be has been a child care teacher in Hobart, Tasmania. The couple is planning an April wedding in Clarksburg and will reside in Australia.

The families of Jason Sprankle and Heather Watkins announce their engagement. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Jim and Debbie Mahoney of Oswego, N.Y., and John and Tara Watkins of Olney. She is a 2008 graduate of Damascus High School and attended Towson University. She is employed as a nanny, working in Potomac. The prospective groom is the son of Ken and Reina Sprankle of Damascus. He is a 2005 graduate of Damascus High School and received his bachelor’s degree in math from Salisbury University in 2009. He is pursuing his master’s degree in education and is currently employed by Montgomery County Public Schools, working in Chevy Chase. A June wedding is planned in Ellicott City.

Road, Gaithersburg, conducts Sunday morning worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday School is at 10 a.m. Communion celebration on ﬁrst Sundays, men leading worship on second Sundays, youth leading worship on third Sundays. “You’ll Get Through This” Bible Study from 7-8 p.m. Wednesdays. 301-924-8640; www.agapeamec.org.

Damascus United Methodist Church, 9700 New Church

St., Damascus, offers traditional Sunday morning worship services at 8:15 a.m., a youth contemporary worship service at 9:30 a.m. and a service of liturgy and the word at 11 a.m. with Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. for all ages during the school year. www.damascusumc.org.

Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 7730 Bradley Bou-

levard, Bethesda, offers services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. each Sunday, with Sunday School for all ages scheduled at 10 a.m. Child care is of-

fered from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. A fellowship and coffee hour follows the 8:30 a.m. service. 301-365-5733, www. elcbethesda.org.

Liberty Grove United Methodist Church, 15225 Old

Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, conducts Sunday morning worship services at 8:30, 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sunday school, nursery through adult, is at 9:30 a.m. 301-421-9166. For a schedule of events, visit www. libertygrovechurch.org. “MOPS,” a faith-based support group for mothers of children, birth through kindergarten, meets from 9-11:30 a.m. the ﬁrst and third Wednesdays of the month at the Frederick Church of the Brethren, 201 Fairview Drive, Frederick. Child care is provided. For more information call 301-662-1819. Email mops@fcob.net.

Neelsville Presbyterian Church, 20701 Frederick Road,

Germantown, has returned to its fall worship schedule, with services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays. Sunday School for all ages at 9:40 a.m. www. Neelsville.org.

The Gazette OUROPINIONS

Forum

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Page A-16

LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR

Clarksburg’s bargain

Shoppers, rejoice! A recent decision from the Montgomery County Council has cleared the way for Premium Outlets to come to the Cabin Branch site in Clarksburg by late 2015, according to the outlet developers. A vote taken Feb. 4 amended an approved development plan that increases the retail space on the property from 120,000 to 484,000 square feet — just the sort of space developers need for the center. The good news — Coach handbags and J.Crew clothing will be marked down. Good thing, because the land was supposed to bring high-paying medical and technical jobs to the area as opposed to the retail jobs. Because Adventist Healthcare did not win state approval WILL A SECOND to put a hospital on the land, the organization is selling the OUTLET property to recoup some of its PLAN BE LEFT costs in infrastructure and land BEHIND? purchase. Adventist Healthcare says that cash flow will help the organization create health care jobs and services elsewhere in the county — which is also good news. Clarksburg folks are left to wonder — not a new sentiment for residents who were promised a build-out of their community more than a decade ago — whether a second project, Tanger Outlets proposed for the Miles-Coppola site east of Interstate 270, is essentially dead. At least some council members say they back a cap on impervious surfaces on three large developments, including the MilesCoppola site, to protect the Ten Mile Creek watershed. But, even without the environmental concerns, could there really be two outlet centers less than five miles apart? Premium and Tanger boast of many of the same major retailers on their websites, such as Gap, Ann Taylor and Banana Republic, though Premium has yet to announce specific tenants here. It’s a draw that will cut the drive time for bargain hunters who now head to Hagerstown or Leesburg, Va., outlet centers. Maybe that can count as an environmentally sound reason for two centers in Montgomery County. But, really how many flat-front khaki pants and noiron blouses can one shop for?

Tracking bins

Trust is a bedrock in our donations to charity. We support causes largely because of their reputations, as best as we know them. Few of us have the interest or time to do the legwork to bolster our instincts — such as looking up the percentage of monetary donations that pay overhead costs. There’s a separate trust issue emerging in Gaithersburg, where some ofﬁcials are wondering about public donation bins that pop up like mushrooms. We see them so often, they’re a part of the landscape. Now, Gaithersburg is considering how to track and possibly regulate the boxes. One of the main concerns is about the organizations behind the boxes. Most people WE FAVOR A recognize Goodwill and its SYSTEMATIC But what of the other APPROACH TO work. groups? Are they charities or REGULATING businesses? DONATION A memo by Planning DiviBOXES sion Chief Lauren Pruss expressed other considerations: Are the bins maintained and the contents regularly collected? Do they become a dumping ground for unrelated trash? Do they attract pests? This is a common problem for unmanned dropoff spots. Some municipalities have had to remove public recycling bins because of the mounds of junk that were being left there. We could easily see charity bins attracting the same ignorant behavior, so Gaithersburg is right to take on this project. The city’s staff has recommended creating a record of all public bins, along with guidelines on where they could go, how big they could be and how they should be labeled (with clear information about the organization and how to contact it). This might sound like a lot of government for a relatively minor issue, but we favor a systematic approach to public bins. Goodwill has lobbied for similar regulations in other cities and states, aware that skepticism about questionable bin practices by other organizations hurts the charity’s cause. New regulations are especially appropriate if businesses, rather than charities, are using bins as part of their commerce, circumventing the regulations in place on brick-and-mortar ofﬁces, where their employees work. When Gaithersburg holds its public hearing on its proposed plan on March 3, local organizations should be there to explain their use of bins and how they maintain them. Hopefully, this will be less of a crackdown and more of a cooperative plan for improving one aspect of the community.

The Gazette Karen Acton, President/Publisher

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Montgomery County Circuit Court test books in Rockville.

Beall-Dawson House ’s connection to county history goes back generations As a volunteer docent at the Beall-Dawson House in Rockville, I read with great interest your article, “Old school technology, circa 2014,” [Feb. 5] concerning the oath book kept by the clerk of the Montgomery County Circuit Court since 1777. In that year, the court clerk was Brooke Beall (pronounced Bell). His son Upton (1770-1827), built our mansion house sometime around 1815. The Bealls were wealthy landowners. They owned about 70 acres of land in Rockville, and at one time, Upton, who became the second clerk of the court, owned about 30 slaves. The clerkship was quite a lucrative position, because unlike today, the clerk person-

ally received a fee for the filing of all deeds, death certificates, marriage licenses, and birth certificates. After his first wife died, the 40-year-old Upton married, in 1810, the daughter of a local tavern owner, Jane Robb, who was 23 years his junior. They had three daughters, Matilda (1812-1870), Jane Elizabeth (1815-1863) and Margaret (1817-1901). When Upton died, Jane never remarried, allowing her to own the vast estate outright. When she died in 1849, Jane’s three daughters inherited the property. Although the Beall sisters, who never married, owned slaves, they were staunch Union supporters during the Civil War. Indeed, after staying

at the Beall house in September 1862, while on his way to the Battle of Antietam, Gen. George McClellan, then the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac, wrote to his wife about the sisters’ loyalty. When Margaret’s cousin, Amelia Somervell, who had come to live with her in 1870, married local farmer John Dawson, the mansion eventually passed to their daughters. As you can see, our house has quite a history. We welcome all to come visit it. We are open noon-4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. There is a nominal admission charge.

Allen H. Saperstein, Bethesda

Pepco’s neglect imperils pedestrians Winter storm Janus elicited joy for students across Montgomery County, leaving them with about 9 inches of snow, no school on Jan. 22, and a twohour delay on Jan. 23. That joy, however, quickly turned to despair as students who were unfortunate enough to live within a certain distance from school realized that they had to walk to school. The Montgomery County public school system does not provide bus service to high school students within 2 miles of the school, middle school students within 1½ miles, and elementary school students within 1 mile. I am one of the many students who does not receive bus service. Complaining about walking would do me no good, so I viewed it as an opportunity to exercise. I was bundled up in my warmest jacket, waterproof boots, two pairs of socks, a set of mittens and a hat shaped like Grover from Sesame Street and a scarf. All was well until it dawned on me that Pepco, the company notorious for power outages without just cause, had not shoveled the sidewalk that parallels their property on either

side of Gainsborough Road. It’s a mere 300 feet at the most, 0.06 of a mile. It doesn’t seem like much, but those 300 feet are located on a hill. The snow that had fallen on Jan. 21st had melted slightly and re-froze into a seemingly innocent sheet of ice over the course of the 48 hours that had lapsed since it stopped snowing. The sidewalk was ice, the grass was ice, the road was full of cars; there was no safe way to get to school. I began to walk on the ice-covered sidewalk, and it appeared to be somewhat safe. Halfway up I slipped, and landed on my backside. Luckily, no one saw me, and everyone knows you didn’t really fall unless someone else is there to witness your embarrassment. I didn’t mind, I just got up, brushed myself off, and continued on to school. At 2:15 that afternoon, I was walking in the same spot and fell again. The next morning, my friend fell while walking to school with me. This has continued for over a week and I have witnessed someone fall or have fallen myself every single

day on the walk to and from school. It is unsafe for students, or anyone really, to be walking on Pepco’s death trap made out of neglect and water. In case you are not familiar with Montgomery County’s code of law, under Sec. 49-17, the following three points are expressly stated: • “A person is responsible for removing snow and ice on any sidewalk, other walkway, or parking area on or adjacent to property that the person owns, leases, or manages, including any walkway in the public right-of-way, to provide a pathway wide enough for safe pedestrian and wheelchair use.” • “If ice or hardpacked snow is impossible or unreasonably difﬁcult to remove, the person is responsible for applying sufﬁcient sand, other abrasives, or salt to provide safe pedestrian use.” • “The person is responsible for removing snow and ice within 24 hours after the end of the precipitation that caused the condition.” This code of law holds Pepco accountable for removing snow and ice on any sidewalk adjacent to the property

Kelly Walsh, Potomac

We have met the deer’s enemy, and he is us In answer to the letter in The Gazette’s Forum on Jan. 22: “For deer, sharpshooters maybe only option.” The solution to the deer’s overpopulation is for humans to stop taking over their habitat: their forests; their waterways and every blade of grass.

We have, through the years and without mercy, overbuilt both in cities and suburbs thus creating a wildlife exodus and confusion. We have the impression that deer’s population has increased when in reality it’s the human population triggering problems for the wildlife.

We could make an effort and live in good co-existence with wildlife if we stopped depleting woods and forests to create more suburbs and shopping malls infested with pollution and crime.

9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 | Phone: 301-948-3120 | Fax: 301-670-7183 | Email: opinions@gazette.net More letters appear online at www.gazette.net/opinion

Douglas Tallman, Editor Krista Brick, Managing Editor/News Glen C. Cullen, Senior Editor Copy/Design Meredith Hooker, Managing Editor/Internet Robert Rand, Managing Editor/Presentation

that they own or manage. If the ice is too difﬁcult to remove, they are responsible for applying enough sand or salt to make it safe to walk on. They also have to do this within 24 hours of the end of the precipitation. It has been over seven days. The court case Poole v. Coakley, 423 Md. 91 (2011), ruled that “knowledge undoubtedly acquired from encountering visible snow and ice may be imputed as a matter of law.” Without all of the lawyer jargon, that means that if you see snow and ice and continue to walk on it anyway, you assume the risk of potentially slipping and falling. If someone fell there, Pepco would not be held responsible even though there is no other way to get past the ice without going in the road and potentially being hit by a car or trespassing on Pepco’s property. Pepco has had over a week to fix this problem, yet they have not done anything and will continue to do nothing. It is unsafe and unfair that people are forced to deal with Pepco’s ignorance.

Andrew Schotz, Assistant Managing Editor Nathan Oravec, A&E Editor Ken Sain, Sports Editor Dan Gross, Photo Editor Jessica Loder, Web Editor

Dennis Wilston, Corporate Advertising Director Doug Baum, Corporate Classiﬁeds Director Mona Bass, Inside Classiﬁeds Director

Jean Casey, Director of Marketing and Circulation Anna Joyce, Creative Director, Special Pubs/Internet Ellen Pankake, Director of Creative Services

Viviane Pescov, Kensington

POST COMMUNITY MEDIA Karen Acton, Chief Executive Ofﬁcer Michael T. McIntyre, Controller Donna Johnson, Vice President of Human Resources Maxine Minar, President, Comprint Military

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

• Mary Ellen Barbera. Appointed chief judge of the state’s top court. First woman to hold that post. • Laura Neuman. Anne Arundel County’s new county executive with a heroic life story and plenty of smarts. • Tom Perez. President Obama’s new secretary of labor (this guy is a perennial rising star). • Ben Carson. Hopkins superstar neurosurgeon celebrated by Hollywood and the media until he ventured into politics this year as a conservative, becoming a national political ﬁgure. MGM. • Won the new casino rights in P.G. County (shocker?); will MY MARYLAND make zillions. BLAIR LEE Stock • market. Stocks cap best year of century with 30 percent gains. • Mike Pantelides. The young Republican who won Annapolis mayor’s race by 59 votes. • Cyber security. Maryland’s hottest new growth industry with unlimited potential. • University of Maryland. Breaks into top 10 on Playboy’s best “party schools” list. • Bao Bao. The National Zoo’s new baby giant panda whose every move dominates the news. • Towson Tigers. Coach Rob Ambrose takes Towson U. football from 1-10 (2010) to the 2013 National Championship game. • “The Wire.” Baltimore-based HBO series named number one TV show of all time by EW magazine. • The 2000 Dodge Caravan. Maryland’s most stolen car, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Falling stars • Pro sports. Both the Orioles (.525) and the Nationals (.531) defy expectations, failing to make the playoffs. Meanwhile the NFL champion Ravens also miss the playoffs while the Redskins go 3-13 and ﬁre coach Shanahan. • The Terps. Football team limped through its last ACC season before joining the Big Ten (thank God the College Park geniuses didn’t put us in the SEC).

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Rising stars

• Gold. The economic downturn drove up gold from $500 per ounce to $1,900 in 2011, but 2013 was the first year this century that gold finished lower than it began. • Coal. Cheap natural gas (fracking) and stiff new EPA regs helped close two Maryland coal-fired plants, ban new ones. • Public-financed hotels. Baltimore’s $300 million taxpayer-financed Hilton Hotel has lost $70 million since it opened in 2008. Meanwhile, the $120 million state-financed Cambridge Hyatt Hotel can’t pay its bills either. Both hotels are draining reserve funds. • Maryland business/retirement climate. Maryland’s business climate dropped from 40th to 41st nationally and the state tied with Vermont (44th) as “one of the worst places to retire,” according to national surveys.

Fiascos and scams of the year • Baltimore speed cameras. When Baltimore’s hopelessly flawed speed cameras issued 70,000 incorrect tickets (including a parked truck) the city agreed to a $2.2 million camera replacement plan but exited the contract by paying off the vendor $600,000. • Maryland’s Obamacare exchange. Maryland’s self-styled website crashed the first day and has never fully recovered. It makes the federal website look good, but state legislators don’t want to hold anyone accountable until after November’s elections. • Baltimore jail bust. The state took over the Baltimore jail in the early 1990s due to the city’s mismanagement. Yet, in April the feds busted the jail and indicted 44 inmates and guards who abetted the Black Guerrilla Family’s free run of the lockup. • The rain tax. Taxpayers in Maryland’s 10 largest counties received “rain tax” bills for stormwater runoff from their rooftops and driveways. • Baltimore’s school construction. As a reward for the city’s years of failing to close schools and for operating halfempty buildings, the state guaranteed $20 million a year for thirty years to fix the problem while leaving other counties to fight for year-to-year funding. • Robert Saylor. When this Down syndrome moviegoer tried to watch an extra show, three off-duty Frederick County deputies scuffled with him, leading to his death by asphyxiation.

Page A-17

LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR • Silver Spring Transit Center. Due to faulty concrete work, this $120 million project is wildly over budget, overdue and a major embarrassment. • DHCD headquarters. In a political payoff to P.G. County (and punishment to Anne Arundel County) Gov. Martin O’Malley defied all logic and cost effectiveness by relocating the Department of Housing and Community Development HQ to New Carrollton. • Court delays. Once a case is heard by Maryland’s top court, how long before a ruling should be rendered? How about seven years? In 2006 the court heard Kevin Alston’s plea for parole eligibility. But, by the time the court decided (2013) in his favor, Alston had completed his five-year sentence. Numerous such delays are a judicial scandal. • School cheating. No, not the students, it’s the administrators. Why are Maryland’s schools top ranked? Because Maryland leads the nation in excluding low-scoring special ed and immigrant students from national testing. • More school cheating. Auditors found P.G. schools misspent $167,000 in federal stimulus funds (engraved watches, rental cars, teas) and $540,000 misspent by Baltimore schools (harbor cruises, catered mom/daughter “makeover days”). A Baltimore principal stole $10,000 from a student activity fund, a Baltimore school board member resigned for falsifying his education resume, and the University of Maryland disclosed that it secretly hired a PR firm to sway public opinion in favor of its move to the Big Ten. • Obamaphones. Free cellphones for low-income Maryland families grew from 5,821 (2008) to 509,000 (2012), an increase 40 times the national average because half the recipients were ineligible. • Air pollution. Despite Maryland’s punitive environmental efforts against state businesses, it turns out that 70 percent of Maryland’s air pollution comes from upwind states beyond Maryland’s control. Blair Lee is chairman of the board of Lee Development Group in Silver Spring and a regular commentator for WBAL radio. His column appears Fridays in the Business Gazette. His past columns are available at www.gazette.net/blairlee. His email address is blairleeiv@gmail. com.

Praise for Andrews’ bill Councilman Philip Andrews’ bill to provide public funding for county executive and County Council campaigns [“Andrews proposes campaign money plan,” Feb. 5], which has drawn unanimous praise from fellow council members as well as support from a number of organizations dedicated to good government, is an example of his integrity, leadership, and, in particular, concern

about the influence of special interests in politics — characteristics that make Andrews an attractive candidate for county executive in the June 24 Democratic primary. Andrews is the only candidate running in the primary who does not accept campaign funds from developers, unions and PACs.

Susanne Humphrey, Wheaton

Publicly financed candidates ensures government ‘by the people’ Phil Andrews’ new bill to set up a public finance system for Montgomery County elections [“Andrews proposes bill that would allow public funding for campaigns,” Feb. 5] will make our county more democratic. Democracy means “government by the people” — not “government by special interest groups.” Right now, special interests dictate how politics are run more than they should. Andrews’ public finance system offers a way to stop special interests from taking over elections. Politicians who chose to participate in the proposed public

ﬁnancing system won’t be able to take big contributions from unions and developers. And, individual donations will be capped at $150. Public financing would encourage more people to run for county ofﬁce who don’t have access to special interest money or don’t want to be dependent on it. This will make government more “by the people.” I hope the County Council approves Andrews’ legislation. Thank you, Andrews, for caring about democracy.

Laura Markstein, Silver Spring

WRITE TO US The Gazette welcomes letters on subjects of local interest. Please limit them to 200 words. All articles are subject to editing. No anonymous letters are printed. Letters are printed as space permits and are limited to one per person per month. Include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Send submissions to: The Gazette, attention Commentary Editor, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; fax to 301-6707183; or email to opinions@gazette.net.

THE GAZETTE

Page A-18

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Test data ‘part of a story’ for teacher evaluations Senate committee n

Superintendent weighs in on new education standards

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

State schools Superintendent Lillian M. Lowery said she thinks the “confusion and tension” in Maryland around the Common Core State Standards stems from how local school systems will use data from tests aligned with the standards. Maryland schools are transitioning to the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers assessment based on Common Core, a controversial set of education standards for English and math that Maryland, along with other states, chose to adopt. The test is scheduled for full implementation next school year. Data from the PARCC test eventually will play a role in teacher evaluations, which has drawn concern from some around the state. Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr previously said that, while he plans to follow the law, he will guard the integrity of the county school system’s current method for evaluating teachers. Lowery stressed that the state test data will account for only 20 percent of an evaluation. “It is part of a story,” she said. “It’s a data point.” The inclusion of test data

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Lillian M. Lowery, Maryland’s state superintendent of schools, during an interview at The Gazette in Gaithersburg on Feb. 5. in teacher evaluations creates a common factor that can be compared across schools and help districts identify best practices and know where to direct resources, she said. The data can help ensure that two teachers teaching the same subject in different schools are held to the same rigorous standards, she said. If a teacher doesn’t show growth in their students’ test data, he or she “would have to bomb” the other components to feel a negative effect, Lowery said. “Teachers will be evaluated every year,” she said. “It’s just how we use the state assessment to inform that work.” Concern also has arisen around the tests’ implementation.

The Washington Post reported Jan. 30 that 22 superintendents — out of 24 across Maryland — signed a statement expressing a need for more time to implement the new assessments along with other signiﬁcant changes. Lowery said the state has “already built in three years to get this right.” The state won’t use the data until the 2016-17 school year for teacher evaluations, Lowery said. Next school year, the test results will provide baseline data, she said. After students take tests in the 2015-16 school year, she said, districts will have “a point A to point B” reference. She said her understanding was that the statement signed

by the superintendents had been an internal document, but that its release will help generate “realistic” and “open” discussions. “We want to be fair, we want to be thoughtful, we want to be deliberative,” she said. Kentucky recently decided to leave the consortium of states that developed the new test. Lowery said the state always had one foot in and one foot out. “(Kentucky) stuck with what they knew,” she said. Soon to completely replace the Maryland School Assessment, the PARCC test will monitor students’ performance under Common Core, which Lowery described as more rigorous and evidence-based. The kids are “owning far more of their learning” and teachers are able to provide more individualized instruction under the new Common Corebased curriculum, she said. “We take the guesswork out of student learning,” she said. The new standards allow students the chance to exercise creativity to ﬁnd the right answer, she said. “That’s higher-order thinking,” she said. “They own that.” Under the new standards, students also will get the prerequisites they need to better prepare them for college or a career, Lowery said. “Common Core brings back a little bit of common sense,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net

could stall transgender protection legislation Judicial Proceedings has been roadblock in the past n

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

Prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity is considered the last major piece of the legislative puzzle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Marylanders, but a split state Senate committee threatens to stymie the effort. Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. has proposed the Fairness for All Marylanders Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity when it comes to housing, employment, credit and public accommodations. He proposed the act last year, but it died in committee by one vote. Once again, the 11 members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee are about evenly divided as to whether the legislation should advance to the Senate ﬂoor for debate, said committee chairman Brian E. Frosh, a supporter of the bill. “It’s a 6-5 vote in my committee,” said Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Chevy Chase. “I’m not sure if that is in favor or against. It depends on which way it turns, whose vote is picked up or lost.” It is too soon, he said, to talk about how the committee might try to amend the bill. With 25 co-sponsors in the Senate, the bill is likely to pass if it makes it to the ﬂoor. Montgomery County’s entire Senate delegation has co-sponsored the bill. Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, a civil rights organization lobbying in support of the bill, said there are three swing votes on the committee and any one of them could make or break the effort. Beyer has announced she is challenging Madaleno for his Senate seat. Sens. Norman R. Stone (DDist. 6) of Dundalk, C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) of Fort Washington and James Brochin (DDist 42) of Towson could vote either way on the legislation, Beyer said. All three opposed Madaleno’s legislation last year. Once again, a sticking point

for opponents is prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in public accommodations, such as restrooms. Gender identity is deﬁned in the law as a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of an individual regardless of their assigned sex at birth. Proponents of the bill say transgender Marylanders deserve inclusion and the same protections under the law that others enjoy. Opponents fear doing so would jeopardize the safety of women and children in public restrooms by allowing a loophole for unscrupulous predators to claim gender identity, enter a restroom and commit sexual crimes. Transwomen often are the targets of these fears about restrooms, Beyer said, adding that such fears are “silly” and steeped in ignorance. “Transwomen are amongst the most modest of women; they do not go out of their way to be obvious or in anyone’s face,” she said. “Everyone uses the bathroom and all transpeople are using the appropriate bathroom every day without any problem.” Sen. Jamie B. Raskin said similar protections for transgender citizens exist in 17 states as well as in Baltimore County, Baltimore city, Howard County and Montgomery County in Maryland. “And there have been no problems with security in bathrooms,” said Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park, a member of the committee. “So we want to treat the concerns seriously, but I haven’t seen any incidents that show there is a real problem.” Montgomery County law prohibits discrimination against transgendered individuals in housing, employment, cable television service and public accommodations. Maryland Citizens for Responsible Government gathered signatures to take Montgomery County’s law to referendum, but the Court of Appeals said the question could not appear on the 2008 ballot. The court’s decision put the law into effect. Frosh expects his committee to vote in the coming weeks. kalexander@gazette.net

Carr bill would let cities own streetlights Measure eliminates haggling with utilities

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

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Maryland counties, cities and towns could soon have the power to take ownership of streetlights from utility companies. A bill introduced by Del. Alfred C. Carr Jr. clariﬁes the process for local governments to assume ownership from utility companies with a goal of driving down the cost to operate the more than 300,000 streetlights in the state. Carr (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, said $60 million is spent annually across the state on street-lighting services. “That’s an equivalent of $400 just to change a light bulb,” he said. And in Montgomery County and Prince George’s counties, Carr said the cost to maintain the lights could rise further if Pepco’s request for higher rates is approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission. Pepco serves portions of both counties. Pepco is still reviewing Carr’s bill, spokeswoman Courtney Nogas said in an email. “However, in recent years we have opposed several similar measures that aim to take utility owned streetlights without fair compensation,” she said. “We remain committed to negotiating with local governments who are interested in purchasing the streetlights within their jurisdiction.” Carr said his bill attempts to deﬁne a formula for the value of the lights so that there is no hag-

gling over the price to purchase ownership. Energy efﬁciency is also at the heart of his bill. Nogas said Pepco implemented in 2008 a multi-year effort to replace all of its mercury vapor streetlights with highpressure sodium streetlights. “High pressure sodium lamps were chosen by cities and utilities nationwide because they are more efficient than mercury vapor and were a cost effective option for large scale conversions,” Nogas said. Carr said high-pressure sodium lamps are 1970s technology. Jurisdictions are now turning to induction or light emitting diode, LED, lights which last years longer and are more energy efﬁcient than sodium lights, he said. Public ownership would allow a county like Montgomery to decide what technology is best for its street lighting. “It’s also a better service when you are able to put maintenance out to bid and hold a vendor accountable,” he said. Montgomery County and Prince George’s County executives Isiah Leggett (D) and Rushern L. Baker III (D) are behind the bill. Leggett’s spokesman Patrick Lacefield said the legislation would provide a useful opportunity should the county decide in the future that buying some lights would be in the public interest. Montgomery does not have any current plans to purchase streetlights, he said. Thirty delegates have cosponsored the bill. kalexander@gazette.net

CHURCHILL BOYS’ BASKETBALL HITS ITS STRIDE JUST BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS, B-3

SPORTS BETHESDA | KENSINGTON

www.gazette.net | Wednesday, February 12, 2014 | Page B-1

HOW THEY RANK BOYS The 10 best boys’ basketball teams in Montgomery County as ranked by The Gazette’s sports staff:

Rank

School

Record Pts

Bullis

19-3 60

Montrose Christian 13-5 54

Springbrook

16-2 46

St. Andrew’s

17-4 38

Gaithersburg

15-2 29

Clarksburg

14-4 20

Montgomery Blair 14-3 19

Rockville

14-3 9

Poolesville

13-4 7

10.

Walt Whitman

13-4 4

“THERE’S TWO THINGS IN THIS WORLD YOU CAN’T GET BACK AND THAT’S TIME AND WHAT YOU PUT ON THE INTERNET. ALL WE REALLY HAVE AT THE END OF THE DAY IS OUR LAST NAME, SO HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE RECEIVED?”

Others receiving votes:

Wheaton 3; Jewish Day 1.

BEST BET

Poolesville at Rockville, 5:15 p.m. Tuesday: This game that

could decide the Montgomery 3A/2A Division title.

TOP SCORERS

Name, school A. Trier, Montrose Christian J. Friedman, Sandy Spring W. English, McLean J. McKay, McLean I. Kallon, Wheaton N. Segura, The Heights K. Williams, Kennedy J. Stern, Hebrew Academy M. Adkison, St. Andrew’s A. Tarke, Gaithersburg

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

ALASTS tweet today FOREVER

PPG 25.5 22.2 21.3 20.6 19.9 19.1 18.7 18.6 18.5 18.2

GIRLS The 10 best girls’ basketball teams in Montgomery County as ranked by The Gazette’s sports staff:

Rank

School

Record Pts

Damascus

16-2 60

Walt Whitman

15-2 54

Paint Branch

16-2 48

John F. Kennedy 13-2 42

Holy Child

18-3 36

Seneca Valley

14-3 20

Poolesville

13-4 19

Thomas S. Wootton 12-6 18

Winston Churchill 10-8 11

10.

Gaithersburg

10-4 8

Others receiving votes: Good Counsel 3; Col. Zadok Magruder 1.

BEST BET

Damascus at Riverdale Baptist, 7 p.m. Tuesday: The best of

Montgomery and Prince George’s square off in a must-watch game.

TOP SCORERS

Name, school K. Prange, Damascus D. Lerner, Jewish Day S. Addison, Wootton K. Colston, Paint Branch D. Harris, Paint Branch B. Beckwith, Quince Orchard J. Karim-Duvall, Churchill J. Craig, Seneca Valley D. Walker, Watkins Mill K. Meredith, Northwest K. Porter, Bullis

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PPG 19.6 18.6 18.4 18.1 17.5 17.4 17.4 16.5 16.2 16.1 15.9

From Twitter to Facebook to message boards, Web provides information, places to rant

TRAVIS MEWHIRTER STAFF WRITER

Around 11 a.m. on an otherwise average Wednesday morning at Thomas S. Wootton High School (@ WoottonSports, 220 followers), Patriot football coach Tyree Spinner (@ TyreeSpinner, 243 followers) and his assistant coaches were dismissed. The cyberspace feuding began soon after.

Upon hearing the news, one student said he arrived home around 2:30 p.m. and the ﬁrst thing he did was create a Twitter account, @getspinnerback (195 followers), which has since launched a sea of discussion in the Montgomery County Twitter-sphere. Social media has been used for all manner of things in myriad ﬁelds: public relations, news gathering and reporting, organizational efforts,

trash talk, and publishing whatever is on one’s mind — anything under the sun. It can be a tremendous resource or entirely worthless, both trouble-causing and problem-solving. The latter was the intent for the student behind the @getspinnerback account, who asked to remain anonymous in an interview.

See TWEET, Page B-2

Landon senior leads by example

Einstein senior dominates the paint Camara stronger than ever after abbreviated junior season

Barton, a three-year starter, serves as captain for young team

STAFF WRITER

BY TED BLACK STAFF WRITER

Albert Einstein High School boys’ basketball senior Abraham Camara used to be a lanky 6-foot-5 center. A raw, talented big man, or as teammate Joe Bradshaw described him, “some skinny frail guy.” But that all changed last year, after he temporarily left the team and missed out on Einstein’s late-season run to focus on his academics. Thanks to the extended offseason, which allowed for extra time in the weight room, Camara has transformed into one of the most dominant big men in the county. “He became a dedicated high school athlete,” Einstein coach Rich Porac said. “That, beyond anything else I’ve seen, has been the biggest improvement.”

Landon School senior Jack Barton is the only three-year starter on the Bears’ ice hockey team, but that’s not why he has accepted and thrived in the role of team captain. It’s his performance on the ice. In Landon’s 7-1 victory Friday against rival Georgetown Prep, a game that clinched the regularseason Interstate Athletic Conference crown for the Bears, Barton scored three goals, including one shorthanded. However, his hat trick was not his biggest contribution in that game. Landon had forged a 2-0 lead at the end of the ﬁrst period on goals from junior Jones Lindner and sophomore Brian Jordan and, as expected, George-

ERIC GOLDWEIN

See EINSTEIN, Page B-2

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Albert Einstein High School’s Abe Camara shoots against Rockville on Friday.

See LANDON, Page B-2

THE GAZETTE

Page B-2

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Walter Johnson girls’ basketball gets a makeover n

Wildcats overcome loss of six seniors

ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER

This isn’t the same Walter Johnson High School girls’ basketball team that went 18-6 last season, winning a share of the Montgomery 4A South Division and advancing to the Class 4A West Region semiﬁnal game. Six seniors graduated — including top post player Kristen Larrick — leaving less experienced, undersized backups in their place. So this season, the Wildcats took on a new identity. Instead of running the

EINSTEIN

Continued from Page B-1 Camara bulked up in the offseason and also played on the football team this fall. “You can see the difference,” Porac said. In just his third year playing organized basketball, the senior is averaging 18 points, 15.8 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game (as of Monday), dominating inside on both ends of the ﬂoor. “He’s way more aggressive. He feels like he has to prove a point in the county,” Bradshaw said. The Titans rarely call plays for Camara, who leads the team in scoring and shoots about 60

Continued from Page B-1 “I think it can have a pretty big impact because The Gazette (@Mont_Sports, 1,413 followers) has already talked about us and more people followed,” he said. “If someone else writes about us, then more people will notice us and the word will get out and maybe Dr. [and principal, Michael] Doran will think about it.” Wootton officials held a meeting at the school on Feb. 6 to respond to concerns in the community about the dismissal of Spinner and his staff. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and all other forms of social media give athletes, coaches, opponents, and students an unchecked, unﬁltered voice behind the safety of a computer screen.

offense through the 6-foot-2 center, they started working through the guards. Instead of depending on a dominant scorer, they have about ﬁve consistent scorers. They aren’t hiding their size, but they’re embracing it with an up-tempo pace. The results haven’t quite matched last season’s, but the Wildcats (9-8 overall, 3-4 as of Monday) have remained one of the better teams in the county and sit in third place in the 4A South in spite of the revamped lineup. “They play hard and they don’t give up, and when it comes down to it, that’s the kind of team I want to have,” Wildcats coach Lindsey Zegowitz said. None of the Walter Johnson players average double ﬁgures in scoring; Erica

percent from the field. The center inflicts most of his damage in the paint, collecting errant field goal attempts and turning them into easy buckets. “Sometimes, our best play is a bad shot when Abraham is under the basket,” Porac said. Camara has been playing his best basketball as of late. He had 40 points and 18 rebounds in a 7256 win over Seneca Valley on Jan. 31. The week before, he recorded 37 points and 20 rebounds in a win over Walter Johnson. “The thing with him, he doesn’t need us to pass the ball,” Bradshaw said. “If the ball comes off the rim, that’s just his.” Camara began his sophomore year on the junior varsity team, but moved up to varsity “Faceless Internet weasels” is how Quince Orchard football coach Dave Mencarini (@QOCoach, 1,452 followers) put it. Coaches and athletic directors can interact with the community at large, players with county peers, team accounts with other team accounts. The @getspinnerback account was created predominantly with positive intentions for the coach. That’s not to say, however, that social media can’t backfire. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly rare when it doesn’t. Colleges and high schools have suspended players for derogatory tweets. Professional athletes have been fined. It’s become increasingly difficult for social-media users to straddle the line between First Amendment rights and when it simply

Boyd, a junior point guard, averages a team-high 8.1 points and senior guard Melanie Ackerman averages 7.6, while Jilly Mahoney (6.2), Maggie Howie (5.6) and Samantha Lee (5.3) round out the top-ﬁve scorers. But the balance can be an advantage, Zegowitz said. “We needed some new people to step up into a scoring position. The girls are doing well,” Zegowitz said. “... A lot of girls are stepping up and they’ve been doing it on different nights.” Walter Johnson is playing at a faster pace, and though taller and more physical teams create matchup problems, the Wildcats use their quickness to overcome the height disadvantage.

ago, he grabbed a rebound and took it coast-to-coast, as if he were a guard, Porac said. With only three years of serious basketball experience, there is plenty of room for growth. “I think there’s a little more time to add more stuff to my game,” Camara said. “I just need to put the work in.” Camara said he is undecided about school but that he wants to continue playing basketball. “If I get the opportunity and the grades are up to par, I think I can get to the next level,” Camara said.

after a rim-breaking two-handed dunk caught the attention of his coaches. Adjusting to the varsity level was a struggle, he said. “It was really difficult for me,” he said. “... There were

obviously guys better than me, bigger than me. I needed time to learn the game of basketball.” Slowly but surely Camara has done exactly that, overcoming obstacles like the ones he

goes too far to publish an item on a forum where one screenshot can preserve it for eternity. “The big thing that you really got to do, especially for a young coach like Spinner, is to stay away from it,” MoCoFootball. com founder Mike Cornejo (@ MikeCornejo, 1,624 followers) said. “It’s very tempting to post something on a message board like MoCo Football and ﬁre back. In a broader sense, it’s the same thing [as Twitter], but … you’re not limited to 140 characters.” It’s not all negative, though. Students and athletic departments have found productive uses for social media as well, though it’s oftentimes the inﬂammatory comments that attract the most attention. Those with student section twitter accounts, such as Quince

Orchard’s Red Army (@RedArmy2013, 413 followers), use it to get out the message for a theme for that week’s game, what color to wear, etc. Athletic directors, principals, and higher-ups have discovered successful ways to organize fundraisers and events, or announce schedule changes. James H. Blake Athletic Director Jared Fribush (@BlakeAthletics, 807 followers) said he uses it mainly to promote games and provide live scoring updates and check scores from around the county. Seneca Valley Athletic Director Jesse Irvin (@SVHSathletics, 406 followers) has a policy that every single athletic event will have a score tweeted out within two hours of conclusion. “It is great to get out information to them quickly,” said Irvin, who set up the department’s

Twitter and Facebook accounts when he took the job in 2011. “I have also used it to garner fan interest by holding Twitter contests, such as tweeting a picture of the student athlete at a game in school colors, showing their school pride.” Though he emphasizes caution, Fribush leaves any social media restrictions up to each individual coach, adding that it’s not necessarily their responsibility to monitor Twitter or Facebook. To his knowledge, he has yet to see an incident involving any Blake athletes. Mencarini views Twitter and the message boards as “an unbelievable resource,” though he recognized the wealth of drawbacks that go hand-in-hand. “It’s a great opportunity for me as a coach to promote all

the good things we’re doing …. You ﬁnd out more about what’s going on in the world in sports, news, whatever, on Twitter before you have to even get on the Internet.” As most any coach has at this point, Mencarini, who makes a point of following his players on Twitter, has had conversations with several of his players about using social media responsibly. A synopsis of his 30-minute speech he gives his players goes something like this: “There’s two things in this world you can’t get back and that’s time and what you put on the Internet,” he said. “All we really have at the end of the day is our last name, so how do you want to be received?”

“Those are the types of things that he does to win games,” Landon coach Chan Gammill said. “Not only were we about to kill their power play chance, Jack chases down the puck and then Campbell trails him and we get a goal. That was just a huge momentum swing. If they score on the power play, they’re right back in it at 2-1. We get a shorthanded goal and now its 3-0 and then get back to even strength. But you know that’s why he’s a captain. Sure, he’s been with us three years but its his work ethic that leads to goals like that.” Barton, one of only ﬁve seniors on the team, downplayed the moment. His assist may have started the scoring in the second period, but he had two goals later in the frame, the second of which was also shorthanded and he scored the Bears’ lone tally in the third period for a 7-0 lead. When Prep’s Ryan Holman ended

O’Brien’s bid for a shutout, it was the Landon cheering section that gave the Little Hoyas’ player a loud, albeit sarcastic ovation since most of the Prep faithful had already departed. “We knew coming into this year that we had a chance to go out with another championship,” Barton said. “For me, being a captain since the beginning of the season has meant a lot. I know that it’s important for me to show an example, especially for the younger players. We want them to carry on the tradition after we leave. As a defenseman, my focus is on helping out my goalie [O’Brien] and not really focusing too much on scoring. It was great to get three goals [against Prep] but really the main task for me is keeping the other team from getting scoring chances.” As he watched Barton record an assist on one short-

handed goal and then add a shorthanded goal of his own in the waning stages of the second period, Georgetown Prep coach Paul Fritz understood both the scenario and the impact of those two scores. “Really, what it comes down to in a lot of those situations is just staying disciplined,” Fritz said. “We had maybe a handful of power play chances tonight and instead of staying with the game plan and working together as a team, we had too many instances where our guys were trying to improvise. On shorthanded goals like the three they got [on Friday] it was all about hustle and determination. Their guys made the plays and [Barton] not only played a good game defensively for them he also accounted for over one-half their goals.”

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Albert Einstein High School’s Abe Camara talks to his coach, Rich Porac, against Rockville on Friday.

Continued from Page B-1

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Landon School ice hockey captain Jack Barton is one of the best players in the area. intercepted a lazy Prep clearing pass, headed behind the net and riﬂed a pass to fellow senior

against Richard Montgomery, combining with Ackerman (22) to score 41 of the team’s 53 points. The Wildcats have played their share of close games this season, including a three-point win against Thomas S. Wootton, a six-point loss to Gaithersburg, and overtime games against Richard Montgomery (44-42, W), Seneca Valley (45-39, W) and Winston Churchill (49-47, L). To advance in the playoffs, the team will have to close out those games with consistency. “I think we could go far,” Boyd said... “We just have to work really hard, take every game as one and just focus on that.”

faced his junior season. “I started taking my grades seriously, hitting the weight room, trying to get better,” Camara said. Even though he didn’t play at the end of last season, Camara attended all of Einstein’s games. After a 2-10 start, the Titans won nine of their last 13 before falling to Urbana in the 3A West Region semiﬁnal. “It really upset me,” Camara said. “Seeing the looks on my teammates’ faces when they lost to Urbana, I knew I had to step up.” Camara has added several elements to his game this season, including an improved left hand. He’s also become more versatile. In a game two weeks

LANDON

began the second period with a hint of desperation. When Bears’ junior defenseman Trevor Wolf was given a two-minute minor penalty, the Little Hoyas went on the power play. An early second period goal by Prep would not only narrow the Bears’ deﬁcit in half, it would energize the Little Hoyas and their enthusiastic student section, which had been standing since ﬁve minutes before the opening face-off. But not only did Landon weather the storm and kill the Little Hoyas’ power play, Barton made the game’s most significant play shortly before it ended. Prep had gotten three good shots on goal against Bears’ goalie Sean O’Brien, but Landon cleared the puck into the Little Hoyas’ zone. Barton charged the blue line with a purpose and

“We had to focus more on bringing up the tempo of our offense,” Ackerman said. “And our passing is a lot quicker this year, because there’s not a lot of feeding into the post.” Ackerman, a 5-8 guard, has been one beneﬁciary of the team’s makeover, particularly in recent weeks. The secondyear starter is averaging 12 points in her last six games. “We have to move the ball around quicker and try to make shots from driving and kicking,” said Ackerman, who has a team-high 27 3-pointers. “... Practices are a lot more challenging this year since we’re all fast.” Boyd, 5-4, is also playing well as of late. She had 19 points in a Jan. 24 win

Campbell Blue who one-timed the puck into the net for a 3-0 lead.

egoldwein@gazette.net

tmewhirter@gazette.net

tblack@gazette.net

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page B-3

MONTGOMERY COUNTY NLI SIGNING DAY BY GAZETTE STAFF

Feb. 5 was the ﬁrst day high school seniors can sign a National Letter of Intent to play sports in college. Below is a list of all the student-athletes from Montgomery County that The Gazette has been able to conﬁrm who have (or expect to) signed their national letters of intent. Athletes who plan to play at non-scholarship schools are also included.

Football n n n n n n n n n

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Walt Whitman High School’s Hannah Niles (left) dribbles past Walter Johson’s Kristin Scott on Friday.

Wootton pulls reversal vs. Gaithersburg Whitman’s streak reaches 14; Jewish Day leads the PVAC n

The Thomas S. Wotton High School girls’ basketball team (12-6, 8-2 as of Monday) clinched a share of the Montgomery 4A West Division title on Friday, defeating co-champion Gaithersburg 70-46 on Friday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY ERIC GOLDWEIN The Trojans (11-5, 8-2) took the first meeting and could have earned sole possession of the division title with a series sweep, but the Patriots jumped out to an early lead and held on for the win. Ellie Kobylski scored a game-high 22 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Patriots. The junior guard also helped limit Gaithersburg’s leading scorer, Janessa Fauntroy, who finished with 19 points. “She’s just strong and intense and a real competitor,” Wootton

coach Maggie Dyer said. Wootton’s press kept Gaithersburg’s offense in check; the Trojans managed only 26 points through three quarters. “I think defensively, we played a lot better. We played with a lot more intensity coming out,” Dyer said. Wootton had four different double-digit scorers, including Kobylski, her twin sister Cece Kobylski (12), Sheri Addison (20) and Kaitlin Klausing (12). “A lot of kids just stepped up and contributed to make it a team win,” Dyer said.

Whitman win streak continues Whitman (15-2, 7-0) has won 14 straight games after defeating Walter Johnson 65-30 on Friday and is peaking at just the right time. Senior Avery Witt scored 12 points and sophomore Hannah Niles scored 11 off the bench to lead Whitman’s balanced attack. Though Whitman doesn’t have a player averaging doubledigits in scoring, the offense has scored 50-plus points in six of its last seven games. “We pride ourselves on the

defense, but the offense seems to be catching up,” Whitman coach Pete Kenah said after the game. The Vikings returned two starters from last year’s 21-5 squad that won a region title and reached the state semiﬁnals.

Jewish Day atop PVAC Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (11-1 as of Monday) is on a nine-game win streak and in position to win the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference. “As this season has gone on, they’re understanding better how each other play,” said ﬁrstyear coach Rebecca Silberman. “… I think I’ve done a good job of motivating them but I think they’ve done an even better job of motivating each other.” The Lions are led by sophomore Daphne Lerner, who is averaging a team-high 18.5 points and helping carry the team on both sides of the ﬂoor. Their last loss came in December against Washington Waldorf (37-34). egoldwein@gazette.net Harvey Valentine contributed.

Churchill mixes up playoff picture n

Bulldogs upset Whitman and Blair back-to-back

Robert Bean was quick to keep his optimism in check. His Winston Churchill High School basketball team had just followed up a four-point win against previously-ranked Walt Whitman by delivering a 20-point home thumping to

BOYS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY TRAVIS MEWHIRTER then-No. 5 Montgomery Blair. But he has seen these flashes of brilliance before. He was quick to contain his excitement within realistic bounds. “It’s a good sign for sure, but it’s a little bit too early to tell,” the first-year coach said. “We won three in a row earlier but then we lost three in a row. What I’m seeing right now is in practice, we seem a lot more focused and we’re playing in practice like we play in a game.” What he’s also seeing is a consistently full roster for one of the first times all season. Bean has had to deal with injuries and various other reasons for athletes being unable to play. With 6-foot-5 junior Bobby ArthurWilliams and 6-4 sophomore Sean Strittmatter, both of whom have battled injuries throughout the year, and several others as healthy as they’ve been all year, Churchill has essentially its entire lineup playing together, and playing on the same page. “We’ve had a couple big wins,” Bean said. “We needed them. Things are starting to come around. It’s tough to get a new coach and it’s tough to be a new coach.” Earlier in the week, Springbrook coach Tom Crowell had actually voiced his confusion over why Churchill was struggling so much. Prior to the Bulldogs’ resurgent week, they were 5-11 and had lost four of the past

FILE PHOTO

Winston Churchill High School’s Allen Njumbe is one of the Bulldogs’ key players this season. ﬁve games, though that win did come against a solid Col. Zadok Magruder team. “They’re so athletic, they have some really good players,” Crowell said, before speciﬁcally citing Jesse Locke and Allen Njumbe as the two that particularly stuck out to him. Well, guess who combined for 37 points in the Feb. 4 victory over Whitman? And then another 36 in the rout over Blair? Locke and Njumbe. “Our offense was clicking, our defense — I think we were doing a job getting hands in [Blair’s] face and getting on the boards,” Bean said. “And on offense, we were getting a lot of good shots, open shots.” Bean runs what he likes to call a “penetrate and kick” mo-

tion-style offense. The penetration draws the defense to leave a man, ideally Locke or Njumbe, open on the perimeter. The result was a devastating 13 made 3-pointers against Blair — topping the previous season-high of 12 on Magruder — nine of which came off the hands of Locke and Njumbe. Though Churchill is well out of the running for a bye in the playoffs, every team makes the tournament regardless of regular season success. With the playoff draw near, it’s not too bad a time to begin peaking. “We got to shore up a lot of things, to be honest,” Bean said. “We have a lot to work on. Right now, I’m cautiously optimistic.” tmewhirter@gazette.net

n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n

Jesse Aniebonam, Good Counsel, Maryland Bruno Anyangwe, Clarksburg, Elon Daniel Appouh, Seneca Valley, Old Dominion Lamonte Armstrong, Quince Orchard, Naval Academy Jamal Averette, Good Counsel, Gannon Gus Basanes, Georgetown Prep, Cornell Malcolm Brown, Quince Orchard, Delaware Andrew Caskin, Georgetown Prep, William and Mary Tamsir (Malleh) Ceesay, Clarksburg, Arizona Western Junior College Joe Cho, Poolesville, Carleton Patrick Crowe, Georgetown Prep, Colgate Elliott Davis, Quince Orchard, N.C. State Leo Ekwoge, Good Counsel, Western Michigan Alex Evans, Springbrook, East Carolina Alonte Evans, Kennedy, Nassau Matt Ferguson, Kennedy, Stevenson Marvin Galdamez, Kennedy, Bowie State Rasheed Gillis, Northwest, Shepherd Josh Gills, Northwest, Duquesne Julian Granby, Springbrook, Bowie State Kyle Gregory, Quince Orchard, Monmouth Justin Herron, Bullis, Wake Forest Stephon Jacob, Damascus, Richmond Byron Johnson, Northwest, St. Francis Kenneth Johnson, Kennedy, Bowie State Tyamonee Johnson, Bullis, Wagner Steven Johnston, Georgetown Prep, Dartmouth Lucas Kane, Northwood, Davidson Sam Madaras, Good Counsel, U. of Albany Sam Mustipher, Good Counsel, Notre Dame Nick Newsham, Walt Whitman, Alderson Broaddus Tatah Ndeh Springbrook, Shepherd Doron Redparth, Kennedy, Lakawanna Keannu Richards, Kennedy, Bowie State Nino Scalia, Georgetown Prep, Rhodes College Michael Scott, Kennedy, Nassau Patrick Stewart, Georgetown Prep, Holy Cross Desharnte Thompson, Good Counsel, U. of Albany Michael Udeogu, Georgetown Prep, Butler Solomon Vault, Gaithersburg, Northwestern Kobe Walker, Good Counsel, Kentucky Ritchie Wenzel, Good Counsel, Cornell

Soccer n n n n n n n

Joseph Bogan, Northwest, Lehigh Marisa Brisbane, Damascus, York Karl Brown, Einstein, Colgate Alicia Chavez, Good Counsel, Mount St. Mary’s Karli Cirovski, Good Counsel, Bucknell Michaela Colon, Gaithersburg, Cal U John Marc Charpentier, Einstein, Lehigh

n n n n n n n n n n

Stephanie Cox, Damascus, Shepherd Imani Dorsey, Good Counsel, Duke Joseph Fingerhut, Landon, Wake Forest Josh Golob, Winston Churchill, Lafayette David Hay, Clarksburg, Stony Brook Megan Hinz, Good Counsel, Michigan Katie Kirschenmann, Damascus, McDaniel Courtney Parr, Good Counsel, Michigan Abby Saturni, Good Counsel, Elmira Sarah Settlemire, Good Counsel, Indiana (Pa.)

Track and ﬁeld n n n n

Claudia Ababio, Clarksburg, Maryland Jamillah Jonjo, Quince Orchard, Towson Naomi Sheppard, Northwest, Troy Chase Weaverling, Poolesville, Virginia

Field Hockey n Lizzy Parker, Quince Orchard, Bridgewater

Baseball n n n n n n

Matt Chanin Sherwood, UMBC Evan Colon, Gaithersburg, Frostburg Chris Conver, Poolesville, UMBC Nick DeCarlo, Gaithersburg, Mount St. Mary’s Ryan Kelchner, Good Counsel, Potomac State Joe Lozupone, Good Counsel, Washington College n Robbie Metz, Poolesville, George Washington n Hunter Pearre, Poolesville, Barton

Lacrosse n n n n n n n n

Caitlin Augerson, Damascus, Kenyon Paige Bonds, Damascus, Pfeiffer Andie deCelis, Clarksburg, Manhattan Nick Frankauski, Damascus, Manhattan Leigh Gatons, Damascus, Louisville Haley Giraldi, Good Counsel, Princeton Michelle Krenzke, Damascus, Messiah Alexis Rusnak, Watkins Mill, Robert Morris

Gymnastics n Danielle Hall, Clarksburg, Pittsburgh

Volleyball n Sarah Kenneweg, Poolesville, Seton Hall

Basketball n n n n n n

Brittany Beckwith, Quince Orchard, St. Vincent’s Aaron Briggs, Bullis, Naval Academy Janessa Fauntroy, Gaithersburg, Maine Jenna Kaufman, Damascus, Seton Hill Stacy Koutris, Good Counsel, Mount St. Mary’s Kendra Meredith, Northwest, Southern Connecticut n Babette Sanmartin, Quince Orchard, St. Vincent’s n Sara Woods, Good Counsel, Drexel

Cross country n Collin Crilly, Good Counsel, St. Joseph

THE GAZETTE

Page B-4

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

County high school hockey playoffs begin Seneca Valley grad Georgetown Prep, enjoys life at Virginia Churchill win Metros n

swimming

Women’s basketball: Wolfe, recovered from torn ACL, leads the Cavaliers n

A glimpse at the final Montgomery 2A standings in the Maryland Student Hockey League may have signaled a changing of the guard in the county, especially with Thomas S. Wootton High School (12-0)

BY GAZETTE STAFF

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Our Lady of Good Counsel’s Brady Welch celebrates winning the boys’ 100 freestyle with a personal best time during Saturday’s Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming Championship in Germantown. goalies. Defending champion Churchill (9-2-1) finished second in the standings, outscoring its opponents, 81-22, despite the two 5-1 setbacks to Wootton. In the 10 games that were not head-to-head meetings, Wootton outscored its rivals, 89-14, while Churchill, which went 9-0-1 in those outings, owned a 79-12 advantage in goals. Three Churchill players, Junmno Kim (14 goals), Philip Satin (10) and Connor Liu (10) scored at least 10 goals, while six players, Ross Allen (16 assists), Satin (12), Liu (10), Charlie Ruter (10), Richard Ying (10) and Justin Vagonis (10) had at least 10 assists. Marcus Hurd (8-2-1, 2.66) is the primary netminder. — TED BLACK

Georgetown Prep, Churchill win Metros Eight total records were broken at Saturday’s 50th Washington Metropolitan In-

mark with her American record swim during Friday’s 500-yard freestyle preliminaries. With a time of 4 minutes, 28.71 seconds, Ledecky became the first woman to break the 4:30 barrier. She won the event by more than two pool lengths Saturday. Georgetown Prep accounted for three meet records. Juniors Carsten Vissering and Grant Goddard broke individual records in the 100-yard breaststroke (53.49) and 100yard butterfly (48.69), respectively. The two then joined classmates Adrian Lin and Brandon Goldstein to win the meet finale 400-yard freestlye in record fashion (3:04.83). Other meet records were set by Sidwell Friends’ Gavin Springer (200-yard freestyle, 1:38.29), Sherwood’s Morgan Hill (50-yard freestyle, 22.97), Our Lady of Good Counsel’s Brady Welch (100-yard freestyle, 45.00) and Wootton’s Kristina Li (100-yard backstroke, 54.12). — JENNIFER BEEKMAN

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terscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships won by Georgetown Prep and Winston Churchill. The Little Hoyas, who were the boys’ champion from 20042010, won their first Metros title in four years Saturday at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center with a 412-360 advantage over three-time defending champion Gonzaga. The Richard Montgomery boys finished third with 280.5 points and Thomas S. Wootton (263.5 points) and Walt Whitman (258) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Churchill, which led by 67 points following Thursday’s diving competition, won its third championship in three years by besting the defending champion Wootton girls, 426346. Resurgent Walter Johnson (246), Richard Montgomery (238) and Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (224) rounded out the top 5. Stone Ridge junior and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky set a new Metros

As soon as it happened, Kelsey Wolfe said she knew she was significantly hurt. On Feb. 17, 2013, Wolfe was leading a fast break for the University of Virginia women’s basketball team and in order to beat one last defender, she performed a routine move she had done many times before. Around the 3-point line, Wolfe was going to execute an “in-and-out or a crossover” dribble, but as soon as she came down on her right leg, she collapsed to the John Paul Jones Arena floor with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. “As soon as it happened, I really knew I messed it up,” said Wolfe, who had never seriously been hurt playing basketball prior to the first half against the University of Maryland last year. Now recovered, the 2010 Seneca Valley graduate is one of the Cavaliers top players in her senior season. “It was pretty hard watching from the sidelines, not helping my team,” the guard said. “... Rehab took a long time and took a lot of encouragement from [friends, family, teammates, coaches and trainers].” Wolfe’s self-diagnosis of her injury wasn’t jumping to the worst-possible scenario. As a kinesiology major, she had recently taken a biomechanics class and learned about the anatomy of the knee and the difference in stability of an intact and torn ACL. “It’s definitely been helpful,” said Wolfe, who hopes to attend graduate school for physical therapy after graduating in May. She may also pursue a basketball career overseas. “{Recovering] is just as mental as physical.” For the next nine months, Wolfe rehabilitated her knee and was able to get back on to the court after missing the first couple weeks of preseason

1905894

PREP NOTEBOOK sporting the league’s only unblemished record punctuated by the Patriots’ 5-1 victory over Winston Churchill on Friday evening. But longtime Wootton coach Dave Evans is hardly viewing the standings as an entire validation of his team’s pending coronation as tournament champions Thursday at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel. Granted, Wootton owns two, identical, 5-1 victories over Churchill this season and has outscored its opponents by a 99-16 margin in its 12 games, but Evans has seen enough during his 20 years at the helm to know regular season success is no guarantee of postseason triumphs. “Right now, I couldn’t be happier with the way that we’re playing,” Evans said after last Friday’s latest victory over Churchill. “It’s great to have an undefeated season, but the guys know that the playoffs are what counts. Even toward the end of the game when things started to get a little chippy, I kept telling the guys to back away and not do anything that would hurt the team. We didn’t want to have anyone suspended heading into the playoffs.” The Wootton attack is led by Brandon Hall (18 goals, 17 assists, 35 points), Austin Schoenfeld (10, 19, 29), Luke Klecker (13, 5, 18) and Nicolas Band (12, 5, 17). Hall had two goals last week in the win over Churchill and Schoenfeld added a goal and an assist. Jake Mitchell, in net last week against Churchill, owns a 7-1 mark with a 2.17 goals against average and Aaron Cooperman (5-0, 1.83) are the Patriots’ two

KENT ZAKOUR STAFF WRITER

practice. She returned to her starting role in Virginia’s (12-11 overall, 5-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) season-opening contest and has not looked back, averaging 10.8 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game this winter. Wolfe estimates she is “99 percent” recovered and says she stopped playing with a protective knee brace during a tournament in December. But there are still a few specific movements that she thinks about. “I’m feeling more comfortable on the court,” she said. “Conference play was when I really started to be really confident and sure.” On Jan. 23, Wolfe scored 24 points and helped lead the host Cavaliers to an upset victory over then sixth-ranked Maryland, ending the Terrapins 14game win streak. It was the first time Virginia played Maryland in Charlottesville since Wolfe’s injury last year. “It was definitely in the back of my mind,” Wolfe said. But once the game got started, she said it was forgotten and she was focused on helping her team win. Wolfe, who recorded 1,809 points in high school and was named The Gazette’s 2010 Player of the Year after leading the Screaming Eagles to the 3A state championship with a perfect 27-0 record, came off the bench during her first two seasons in Charlottesville, averaging 9.1 and 12.4 minutes as a freshman and sophomore, respectively. But she worked her way into the starting lineup to begin the 2012-13 season, starting all 25 games and becoming the Cavaliers’ second-leading scorer (10.6) before her knee injury. Virginia coach Joanne Boyle, who replaced Debbie Ryan — the coach Wolfe was recruited by out of high school — in the spring of 2011, says she has been impressed with Wolfe’s improvement, particularly with her vocal leadership. “I didn’t think it was going to go by so fast,” Wolfe said. “I grew a lot as a person and developed a lot of relationships.”

BREWS BROTHERS

AROUND THE WORLD

As other countries discover the creative talents and brewing prowess of American craft beers, the industry has witnessed a stupendous growth in exports.

The Gazette’s Guide to

Arts & Entertainment

Page B-8 www.gazette.net

body of work BY

WILL C. FRANKLIN STAFF WRITER

Five writers follow the rules to make ‘Exquisite Corpse’ hybrid ﬁlm n

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

ack in 2010, writer and comedy filmmaker Ben Popik sat down with five of his friends with one simple idea — those guys should write a movie. OK, maybe it wasn’t quite that simple. Popik had rules and conditions. Each of the five would be responsible for writing 15 pages of the script. Each member would pull a number out of a hat, and that was the order in which they would write. Oh, and each writer was only allowed to read the last five pages of the previous person’s work. The concept turned into “The Exquisite Corpse Project,” which will be screened Sunday at the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown. “Exquisite corpse” is a term coined in the early part of the 20th century for a parlor game where people would write or draw something, cover it up, and pass it along to

See WORK, Page B-9

COURTESY BEN POPIK

Marc (Caleb Bark) and Adayit (Megan Raye Manzi) share a moment in “The Exquisite Corpse Project.”

Page B-5

Writers (from left) Dave Segal, Chioke Nassor, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Joel Clark and Adam Conover were given the task of putting together the ﬁlm “The Exquisite Corpse Project” with a very unusual set of rules. JAY KELLY

BOOKS

Proof in theory n

MEDIUM

Cabaret act explores astrophysics and love

Actor, vocalist and raconteuse Gia Mora will bring her cabaret show, “Einstein’s Girl,” to Bethesda Blues & Jazz on Saturday, Feb. 15. Accompanying her will be pianist and composer Charlie Barnett. FROM GIA MORA

VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Gia Mora — actress, singer and raconteuse — sees parallels between the unfolding of romantic relationships and the history of the universe. “I see them as being similar, because they’re both momentous events,” said Mora, who mixes science, song and standup in her latest cabaret show, “Einstein’s Girl.” A former resident of the Washington area, Mora will return to the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club on Saturday, Feb. 15, with an updated version of her show about “the science of love, theoretically speaking.” “Music, physics and love go together,” said Mora, who sings and writes her own comedy material. “How to tell a story in as short a time as possible — I love that challenge,” she said. As a vocalist, she puts her own spin on romantic classics like “Stardust” and “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” but she also throws in her own musical and comedic take on love in the digital age mixed with the latest in cosmology.

RARE

Psychic’s new book tells ghost stories BY

ELLYN WEXLER

SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

There’s not a ghost of a chance that Laine Crosby has many solitary moments. Since the Atlanta native and her family moved into a house on the site of an 18th-century plantation in Derwood almost a decade ago, the once self-described “completely ordinary” wife and mother has been walking and talking with spirits. In her recently released book, “Investigative Medium: The Awakening,” Crosby tells the story of discovering and accepting her psychic abilities. “I turned forty, ate chocolate Coca-Cola birthday cake, and woke up talking to dead people,” she wrote in the book’s preface. “Suddenly, I was

See MEDIUM, Page B-9

See THEORY, Page B-9

EINSTEIN’S GIRL

n When: 8 p.m. Saturday

n Where: Bethesda Blues & Jazz, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda

n Tickets: $25

n For information: 240-330-4500, Bethesdabluesjazz.com, EinsteinsGirl.com

CAROL NESBITT

Laine Crosby, author of “Investigative Medium — The Awakening.”

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Each day is Frankenstein’s

DAY

Local legend Count Gore De Vol (aka Dick Dyszel) returns from his crypt to host a Valentine’s Day weekend presentation of “The Bride of Frankenstein,” Saturday at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring.

AFI SILVER

On the heels of heart-shaped chocolate boxes and hand-written sweet nothings, paramours throughout Montgomery County can put their heads together and celebrate a belated Valentine’s when the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center presents James Whale’s “The Bride of Frankenstein” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Hosted by District legend Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel), the presentation promises to be a throwback to the good Count’s televised “Creature Features,” complete with interactive intermissions and “ghoulish” surprises. Unrated, the 1935 ﬁlm stars Boris Karloff in the role that made him an icon, alongside Elsa Lanchester’s titular Bride, who would go on to become synonymous with “shocking” hairdos for generations to come. For more information, visit aﬁ. com/silver. Visit spookyfest.com.

A night at the symphony The Washington Performing Arts Society will present the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in concert at 8 p.m. tonight at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. The program, featuring Rossini’s “Overture to the Barber of Seville,” Prokoﬁev’s “Violin Concerto No. 2” and Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2,” will be led by music director Yuri Temirkanov. Soloist Sayaka Shoji will perform on violin. For more information, visit strathmore.org.

BETHESDA URBAN PARTNERSHIP

JAKE JACOBSON

Six professional Washington, D.C.-area theater companies will write, direct, rehearse and perform original plays based on similar themes in only 24 hours as part of Saturday’s 10th annual Play In A Day.

Play time

Folk-pop acoustic duo Buskin & Batteau will perform Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring.

Dynamic duo Folk duo Buskin & Batteau will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring. Known for their trademark blend of humor — as evidenced in songs like “Second Homeless” and “Jews Don’t Camp” — and acoustic excellence exacted via piano and violin, the duo will perform songs from the recently released CD, “Love Remembered, Love Forgot.” Tickets are $25 for general admission and $20 for church members. Doors open at 7 p.m. For more information, visit uucss.org.

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Soloist Sayaka Shoji. KISHIN SHINOYAMA

Play In a Day returns to Montgomery County this Saturday.

Now in its tenth year, the one-of-a-kind event, presented by the Bethesda Urban Partnership and the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, will unleash six professional Washington, D.C.-area theater companies on to the Imagination Stage’s Lerner Theater in Bethesda, where they will produce original works based on similar themes in 24 hours. The fun begins Friday evening, when playwrights and directors assemble to receive assignments and props, and to then hammer out a fully formed play throughout the waning night hours. Rehearsals begin Saturday morning, with teams of directors and actors striving to meet an 8 p.m. deadline, when the curtain rises and the real drama begins. Participating theater companies include Adventure Theatre MTC, Flying V, Imagination Stage, Keegan Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, and Round House Theatre. Tickets are $15. For more information, visit bethesda.org.

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AT THE MOVIES

‘The Lego Movie’: Pesky little pieces add up to long-awaited laughs BY

THE LEGO MOVIE

MICHAEL PHILLIPS CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Finally! A comedy that works. An animated film with a look — a kinetic aesthetic honoring its product line’s bright, bricklike origins — that isn’t like every other clinically rounded and bland digital 3-D effort. A movie that works for the Lego-indebted parent as well as the Lego-crazed offspring. A movie that, in its brilliantly crammed ﬁrst half especially, will work even if you don’t give a rip about Legos. “The Lego Movie” proves that you can soar directly into and then straight past product placement into a realm of the sublime, if you’re clever enough. This isn’t just the funniest PG-rated animation in too long; it’s the funniest ﬁlm, period, in months, since the kid-hostile “This Is the End” and “The World’s End” came out last summer. I would like to nominate the screenwriting team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“21 Jump Street,” “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”) for the Nobel Peace Prize, even though very little about “The Lego Movie” is peaceful. It is, in fact, a manic wonder, sneaking in so many small, medium and large jokes on the sly, it has an instantly re-watchable appeal. The setup of “The Lego Movie,” also directed by Lord and Miller, recalls both “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and the recent “Wreck-It Ralph” in its mashup of familiar characters and imaginative worlds. (Confession: I always found “Roger

n 4 stars n PG; 100 minutes n Cast: Chris Pratt, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Alison Brie n Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

FROM WARNER BROS. PICTURES

(Clockwise, from left) LEGO characters Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman), Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Benny (Charlie Day) and Unikitty (Alison Brie) in the 3D computer animated adventure “The Lego Movie.” Rabbit” a technically remarkable but mean-spirited drag, and consider “Wreck-It Ralph” clever but exhausting. So consider that when considering my response to “The Lego Movie.”) The prophecy dictates that the one who will save the world is a person born with “face of yellow.” So says the Yoda-style soothsayer voiced by Morgan Freeman. The hero? An ordinary Lego construction worker, with the classic waist-bendy design and fondness for right angles and orderly skylines of many colors. Emmet is his name, and he lives and resides in the bustling community of Bricksburg. This world’s overlord, President Business (Will Ferrell doing the vocals, in full snivel), has nefari-

ous plans for maintaining that order permanently. But a mighty band of resistance ﬁghters has other plans, and pretty soon safe, routinized, anonymous Emmet is mistaken for the saviors’ ringleader and mastermind, even though he’s never really put much stock in individuality. He’s a good little Lego. The way Chris Pratt of “Parks and Recreation” voices this fellow, his sweetness is never in doubt. The movie flings Emmet, and the audience, into one Lego universe after another. There’s a Wild West sequence that owes as much to “Son of Paleface” as anything else. When other Lego favorites are introduced into the action — Will Arnett voices an exceedingly narcissistic Batman

— they’re given distinct and vivid comic personalities. Liam Neeson is superbly cast as the voice of the quick-change artist Bad Cop/Good Cop, tasked with capturing Emmet and implementing the end of Bricksburg as we know it. Each facet of Emmet’s world is part of an insidiously entertaining mind-control experiment. The citizens of Bricksburg all tune into the same ofﬁcially sanctioned hit show, “Where Are My Pants?”; everyone sings the same annoyingly hummable hit song, “Everything Is Awesome.” (Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo did the score.) This isn’t paradise; it’s hell. Or both. The satire’s extremely deft, and even when Lord and Miller, work-

ing with animation co-director Chris McKay, indulge their snarky postadolescent sensibilities with one too many torture sequences, the style of the animation doesn’t mistake “realism” for “quality.” We’re happily and fully in thrall to the stop-motion Lego world writ large, to the point that when a huge change occurs at the climax, it’s a bit of a killjoy. We don’t really want to leave the Lego world, even for sincerely wrought pathos, and a

complicatedly affecting message to parents everywhere. Nick Offerman pirates his way, merrily, through the role of Metal Beard; Elizabeth Banks is Wyldstyle, the driven revolutionary with the mad motorcycle skills. The sight gags, most of them quick as an eyeblink, are shrewdly timed; considerable credit goes to editors David Burrows and McKay, who really know how to bite off the end of a scene at precisely the right moment. I suppose it’s a bit much toward the end. A little more breathing room en route might’ve helped sell the heartfelt wrap-up. But most of the way “The Lego Movie” plays like the world’s greatest fan tribute, and I can’t wait to see it again.

IN THE ARTS Carpe Diem Contra Dance, Feb. 13, Caller: Ann Fallon, Music by Gary Wright and Leah Weiss with Ahren Buchheister, 7-7:30 p.m. contradance workshops, 7:30-10 p.m. Contras & Squares, second Thursdays, Great Hall, Silver Spring Civics Center, One Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring, $10 for general admission, $8 for members, $5 for students and those without income, www.carpediemarts.com. Hollywood Ballroom, Feb. 12, free Foxtrot lesson at 7:30 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8:15 p.m. ($16); Feb. 13, 20, Tea Dance from 12:30-3:30 p.m. ($6); Feb. 14, dropin lessons from 7:30-9 p.m., West Coast Swing Dancing with Dance Jam Productions ($15); Feb. 15, Valentine Day Dance with Helmut Licht Big Band, Waltz lesson at 7:30 p.m., dancing from 8:30-11:30 p.m. with Helmut, 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. with DJ ($25 in advance); Feb. 16, free West Coast Swing lessons at 7 p.m., Social Ballroom dance at 8 p.m. ($16); Feb. 19, free Waltz lesson at 7:30 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8:15 p.m. ($16), 2126 Industrial Highway, Silver Spring, 301-326-1181, www.hollywoodballroomdc.com Now and Then Dance Studio, Saturday ballroom dances, second and fourth Saturdays, beginner group lesson at 8 p.m., open dancing at 9 p.m., $10 cash at door (all men admitted at halfprice throughout October), 10111 Darnestown Road, Rockville. 301424-0007, www.nowandthendancestudios.com. Scottish Country Dancing, 8-10 p.m. Mondays, steps and formations taught. No experience, partner necessary, T-39 Building on NIH campus, Wisconsin Avenue and South Drive, Bethesda, 240505-0339.

Concert Series, Slaid Cleaves with Tony Denikos, Feb. 22, 3 p.m. workshops at the Arts Barn or Kentlands Mansion, 7:30 p.m. concerts at the Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. 301258-6394, www.gaithersburgmd.

gov/artsbarn.

Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, Doors Wide Open, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 12; Zoe, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13; Valentine’s Day with the Softones, 8 p.m. Feb. 14; Gia Mora is Einstein’s Girl featuring Charlie Bar-

nett, 8 p.m. Feb. 15, call for prices, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 240-330-4500, www.bethesdabluesjazz.com.

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w No ing! w Sho F.

Scott Fitzgerald Theater

603 Edmonston Dr. Rockville, MD 20851

240-314-8690

www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre

Victorian Lyric Opera Company Presents

Yeoman of the Guards

February 20 (Preview) February 21, 22 at 8pm February 23 at 2pm

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Glen Echo Park is at 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Blues, Capital Blues: Thurs-

days, 8:15 p.m. beginner lesson, 9-11:30 p.m. dancing to DJs, Glen Echo Park’s Spanish Ballroom Annex, $8, www.capitalblues.org. Contra, Feb. 14, Valerie Young and the Glen Echo Open Band, 7:30 p.m. lesson, 8:30 p.m. dance, Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, $10, www.fridaynightdance.org. Contra & Square, Feb. 16, Valerie Young calls with Lars Prillaman and the Br, 7:30 p.m., Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, $12 for general, $9 for members, $5 for students, www.fsgw.org. English Country, Feb. 12, Caller: Anna Rain; Feb. 19, Caller: Carol Marsh; Feb. 26, Caller: Dan Gillespie, 8 p.m., Glen Echo Town Hall (upstairs), www.fsgw.org. Swing, March, TBD, lesson at 8 p.m., dancing at 9 p.m., Glen Echo Park, $15, www.ﬂyingfeet.org. Waltz, Feb. 16, MacArthur Boulevard, 2:45-3:30 p.m. lesson, 3:30-6 p.m., dance, $10, www. waltztimedances.org.

MUSIC & DANCE Arts Barn, Singer Songwriter

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T H E G AZ ET T E

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

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Sharing the wealth: American craft beer exports on the rise As other countries discover the creative talents and brewing prowess of American craft beers, the industry has witnessed a stupendous growth in exports. In 2012, American craft beer exports increased by 72 percent to almost 190,000 barrels, the equivalent to the ninth largest craft brewery. Almost half the exports are to Canada followed surprisingly by Sweden and then Great Britain. Beer exports also are going throughout Europe, the Far East, South America, Australia and New Zealand.

The Boulevard Brewing Company’s Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale is one of the more popular American craft beer exports. BREWS BROTHERS

BREWS BROTHERS STEVEN FRANK AND ARNOLD MELTZER Exports, however, are not a major part of most U.S. brewery sales. In virtually all cases, the percent of total sales is less than 5 percent and usually under 2 percent. There are exceptions, most notably Brooklyn Brewery which expects to export 25 percent of its projected production of more than 200,000 barrels in 2013 to 20 countries. Brooklyn’s General Manager Eric Ottaway said that “selling beer in France isn’t much dif-

IN THE ARTS

Continued from Page B-7 BlackRock Center for the Arts,

District Comedy, 8 p.m. Feb. 15;

ferent than selling beer in Oklahoma.” The earliest craft beer exports came about by chance. In 1985, Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Co., was called by a friend living in Munich who ventured that “Boston Lager is better than anything in Germany,” so Koch sent Boston Lager to Germany. Almost a decade later, Rogue Brewery became the second craft exporter when an American expatriate living in Sapporo, Japan, met with Rogue founder Jack Joyce and convinced him to sell beer there. Rogue now exports to 32 coun-

The Exquisite Corpse Project, 4 p.m. Feb. 16, call for tickets, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown. 301-528-2260, www.blackrockcenter.org. Institute of Musical Traditions

— Rockville, Nuala Kennedy, 7:30

p.m. Feb. 17; Carrie Newcomer, 7:30 p.m. March 8, Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Road, Rockville, call for prices, www.imtfolk.org. Strathmore, Specialty Tea: Valentine’s Tea, 1 p.m. Feb. 12; AIR: Nistha Raj, Hindustani violin, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12; WPAS: St. Petersburg Philharmonic, 8 p.m. Feb. 12; Guitar Passions: Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan & Romero Lubambo, 8 p.m. Feb. 13; Valentine’s Day Dinner, 6 p.m. Feb. 14; Marcus Johnson and the Urban Jam Band, 8 p.m. Feb. 14; Specialty Tea: Teddy Bear Tea, 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Feb. 15; BSO: Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique, 8 p.m. Feb. 15, call for venue, Locations: Mansion, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda; Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, 301-581-5100, www.strathmore. org.

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tries, probably more than any other American craft brewery. The reasons breweries export vary. Sierra Nevada started exporting their beers to England in order to “protect our trademark, quality and integrity” from bootleggers. Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has a similar story that “we know a gray market exists for our beers overseas and these have not been handled up to our quality standards. We decided to take control of our exports.” Brooklyn Brewery began seriously exporting beer in 2005 after Carlsberg

gave brewmaster Garrett Oliver an award, and this relationship evolved to Carlsberg becoming the Brooklyn importer. Deschutes started exporting to Canada after many Canadian visitors asked where their beers were available. Breweries have different experiences about which styles to export. “IPAs are hot in every country,” according to Deschutes. Rogue has similar experiences as do several other breweries. On the other hand, Brooklyn Lager accounts for about 80 percent of Brooklyn’s export sales, much higher than their domestic sales. Boston Lager also is Boston Beer’s most requested style. Among the more popular exports are: • Samuel Adams Boston Lager (4.9 percent alcohol by volume, ABV) is brewed by the Boston Beer Co. It has a an earthy, bready and malty nose with a hint of noble hops. The slightly effervescent front has a light bready sweetness which continues in the middle. A mild ﬂoral hop is added in the ﬁnish which increases in the aftertaste of this crispy and refreshing brew. Ratings: 7.5/7.5. • Dead Guy Ale (6.6 percent ABV) is produced at the Rogue Ales brewery in Newport, Ore., and is Rogue’s best selling

ON STAGE Adventure Theatre, “Miss Nelson is Missing,” to March 9, call for prices, times, Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, 301-634-2270, www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org. Arts Barn, “A Little Night Music,” to Feb. 23, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg, 301-258-6394, www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn. Imagination Stage, “Rumpelstiltskin,” to March 16, call for prices, times, Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, www. imaginationstage.org Olney Theatre Center, “How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying,” To Feb. 23; call for prices, times, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, 301-924-3400, www. olneytheatre.org. The Puppet Co., “Sleeping Beauty,” Feb. 13 to March 23; Tiny Tots @ 10, select Wednesdays,

export. This Hellerbock style brew has a caramel, apricot and faint berry bouquet. The modest sweet caramel malt front melds into a middle where a trace of sweet berry is added. A touch of bitter hops emerges in the finish and grows to medium in the aftertaste where there is a lingering caramel malt. Ratings: 8/8. • Torpedo Extra IPA (7.2 percent ABV) is made by the Sierra Nevada Brewing in Chico, Calif. Torpedo, Sierra Nevada’s highest exported IPA and a well balanced and smooth brew, has a robust grapefruit hop aroma. The moderate malt front is joined by a muted citrus hop with notes of lemon and grapefruit in the middle. The hops elevate in the finish and again in the aftertaste to a balanced medium bitterness. Ratings: 7/7.5. • Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (8 percent ABV) has a complex nose of apricot, lemon, pepper and melon. Very smooth, the medium-bodied Tank 7 begins with a restrained lemon and melon sweet front. A pinch of pepper joins in the middle and a pleasant grapefruit combines in the finish. In the aftertaste the grapefruit increases to medium, with a delicate bitterness, a mild dryness, and a hint of alcoholic warmth. Ratings: 8.5/8

Saturdays and Sundays, call for shows and show times, Puppet Co. Playhouse, Glen Echo Park’s North Arcade Building, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., $5, 301-634-5380, www. thepuppetco.org. Round House Theatre, Bethesda, “Seminar,” to March 4, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. 240-644-1100, www. roundhousetheatre.org. Round House Theatre, Silver Spring, “Pluto,” presented by Forum Theatre, Feb. 20 to March 15, call for show times, 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, $15 for general admission, $10 for subscribers, patrons 30 and younger and seniors, 244-644-1100, www.roundhousetheatre.org. Silver Spring Stage, “Superior Donuts,” Feb. 21 to March 15, Woodmoor Shopping Center, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, see website for show times, www.ssstage.org. The Writer’s Center, Poetry and

Prose Open Mic, 2 p.m. Feb. 23, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, 301654-8664, www.writer.org.

VISUAL ART Adah Rose Gallery, “The Deepest Feeling Always Shows Itself in Silence,” Feb. 13 to March 23, opening vernissage from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 22, 3766 Howard Ave., Kensington, 301-922-0162, www. adahrosegallery.com Gallery B, “Creative Connections,” MFA at Gallery B, Feb. 5 to March 1, opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 14; gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E. www.bethesda. org. Glenview Mansion, Gordana Gerskovic, experimental photography, to Feb. 21, Rockville Civic Center Park, 503 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. www.rockvillemd.gov.

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AT THE MOVIES

‘The Monuments Men’: Great story, but result is no masterpiece BY

MICHAEL PHILLIPS

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

A genial disappointment about the preciousness of art amid the destructive horrors of war, “The Monuments Men” is scored to a military march by composer Alexandre Desplat. You hear what he was going for: jaunty heroics. The throwback sound of it suggests the director, co-writer and star George Clooney sat down with Desplat, gave him a smile and said: “Gimme some of that Elmer Bernstein ‘Great Escape’ magic, Al.” It almost works. The whole film, with its unfashionable techniques (slow fades and dissolves by the dozen) and uberrelaxed, old-school vibe, almost works. Yet Clooney’s attempt to honor unsung real-life heroes while recapturing the ensemble pleasures of some well-remembered Hollywood war pictures, notably “The Great Escape” and “The Guns of Navarone,” comes off as a modestly accomplished forgery at best. You keep waiting for it to kick into gear, for the odd-couple banter between Bill Murray and Bob Balaban to start clicking. The actors, including Matt Damon, John Goodman, Jean

THE MONUMENTS MEN n 2 stars n PG-13; 110 minutes n Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, Jean Dujuardin, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett n Directed by George Clooney

Dujuardin, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett as a Parisian curator based on Rose Valland, are present and ready for duty. It’s “Ocean’s Eight,” this time with serious historical import. The script by Clooney and Grant Heslov offers the actors an outline and some functional scenes, mostly two-handers. But at some point during ﬁlming in Germany and England, Clooney must’ve realized behind the camera that his own script needed another rewrite or two to make dramatic and comic sense of its mission. “All hell’s broken loose here,” his character says at one point, traveling through another frontline scene of mass destruction. You see it, you don’t feel it, and while it’d be crazy to expect a movie such as “The

CLAUDETTE BARIUS

(From left) Dimitri Leonidas, John Goodman, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Bob Balaban in Columbia Pictures’ thriller “The Monuments Men.” Monuments Men” to dive into wartime miseries, its calculated breeziness veers perilously close to a State Department tour. It’s a wonderful subject, which makes the engagement level all the more frustrating. The curators, architects, art historians and artists of the FDRsanctioned Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives crew scrambled around Europe during the war, saving what they could, ﬁnding Nazi-looted and culturally priceless Rembrandts and

Picassos and frescoes, many of them crated deep within Hitler’s salt mines. Largely fictionalized, the film compresses events and cooks up dramatic death scenes, even as it asks the audience to chuckle through a scene of Damon’s character trapped atop an unexploded land mine. That scene is followed, abruptly, by the discovery of barrels of gold teeth extracted from Jewish concentration camp prisoners. The change-up is jarring, intention-

THEORY

WORK

Accompanying her on piano is her musical collaborator, pianist and producer Charlie Barnett, who underscores her monologues. “He improvises [while I’m] speaking. ... We have a symbiotic relationship,” Mora said. A Colorado native whose father plays jazz guitar, Mora stated singing and performing from age 3. She also started writing plays early, later earning an undergraduate degree in screenwriting and playwriting from the University of Colorado. “I’ve always loved writing, but good writing is extremely hard,” she said. “Singing comes more naturally to me.” She also became an actor and dancer, performing in the Washington, D.C. area for six years at the Round House Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, MetroStage and other venues before moving to Los Angeles two years ago. Over the years, Mora has written and performed several cabaret shows, mostly about the intersection of politics and romance, before taking on the origins of the universe. About year ago, she happened to hear an NPR “Science Friday” radio program featuring a dialogue between cosmologists and a novelist who incorporates science into his stories. Astrophysics and love have things in common, she said. “There’s the Big Bang Theory [about the origin of the universe] ... where everything collides and explodes,” she said. Cosmic dust coalesces into planets, and things start to settle down a little, much like falling in love and entering into a relationship over time. “I dived into it and thought, ‘This metaphor could really work,’” said Mora, who started reading up on everything from multiple universes to particle accelerators. Mora launched her “Einstein’s Girl” act in Los Angeles in February 2013, and it wasn’t long before it got the attention of Jennifer Ouellet, writer of the blog “Cocktail Party Physics: Physics with a Twist” for Scientiﬁc American. “[Mora] explores old-fashioned romance in the digital era, marked by snappy patter in between songs and lyrics peppered with allusions to ... cosmic inﬂation, singularities and of course, relativity and Albert Einstein, a.k.a.

the next person for them to write or draw something. At the end, the last person would open up the paper and read what was written or show what had been drawn. In the case of “The Exquisite Corpse Project,” the writers — Chioke Nassor, Joel Clark, Adam Conover, Dave Segal and Raphael Bob-Waksberg — would only pen their part of the script if Popik agreed to make the movie, no matter how bad it turned out. “My background is in sketch comedy,” Popik said. “That’s where we came up as a group. We started in [Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.] and then after college we moved to New York City to pursue comedy professionally.” Popik, along with the other writers, were part of the comedy group “Olde English,” which filmed sketches that became popular on YouTube and throughout the Internet. While in New York, the group performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, which is a jumping off point for many “Saturday Night Live” comedians. During one of the shows, the guys assigned each other rules by which to write sketches. As the writers learned of their rules, they were filmed and the video was shown to the audience that night. “One of the writers, one set of constraints I gave him was he had to combine his three most embarrassing memories into one sketch,” Popik said. “Rule No. 2 was that he had to write the sketch in five minutes and rule No. 3 was the five minutes starts right now. So the audience got to see me assign those rules to him … and then got to watch him scramble to write something in five minutes.

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GIA MORA

Gia Mora will bring her cabaret show, “Einstein’s Girl,” to Bethesda Blues & Jazz on Saturday.

‘Albie,’” wrote Ouellette on Feb. 25, 2013. “Albie” plays a role in “E=mc2,” a song Mora co-wrote with Brad Brown, an English teacher at the Chelsea School in Hyattsville. In it, she asks Einstein, “What is love?” “He said, “Well, my girl, I know a lot about physics. “And I’ve studied me a little bit of chemistry, too. “But nothing in mathematics can explain love’s boogie woogie for two.” Mora also throws in songs about romance and social media, such as “Oh Internet,” “I Google You” and “The Facebook Song,” as well as a song she wrote called “Missing David B.-w4m-41” about missed connections on Craigslist. Mora also weaves in the latest developments in science and high-tech, such as China’s lunar rover and Google Glass. At Bethesda Blues & Jazz, she will also be singing a “quirky song” written by the composers of the musical “Orphie and the Book of Heroes,” premiering from Feb. 8-25 at the Kennedy Center. Mora sings the part of Persephone in the show. She is also working on new songs for her next cabaret show and album, and inspired by the likes of multi-faceted entertainers such as Hugh Laurie and Tracey Ullman, is working on some television pilots. In the meantime, she’s still focused on the connection between relationships and universes. “They’re explosive, momentous, life-altering events, and they take time to develop,” she said.

MEDIUM

Continued from Page B-5 a psychic medium, and I never wanted to be.” Although Crosby knew her maternal grandmother had psychic abilities, she mostly ignored her own childhood experiences, like seeing people — or ghosts — “out of the corner of my eyes,” and what is known as traveling clairvoyance, “being able to go back and forth in time,” she explained. Crosby’s skeptical mother credited her child with “a big imagination,” and she attributed her young adult daughter’s accurate predictions of when people would die to “women’s intuition,” dubbing her “the prophet of doom.” Still, prior to her awakening, the paranormal was rarely in evidence in Crosby’s adult life. After earning an undergraduate degree in economics from Agnes Scott College and an MBA from Georgia State University, she spent 20 years doing marketing and public relations for companies including The Weather Channel, Wachovia and CocaCola. Not long after the family moved to Montgomery County,

LAINE CROSBY

Crosby said, their house began to “feel a little strange,” and unexplained sounds and occurrences ﬁlled her days and nights. On Sept. 21, 2004, she woke up from a nap to hear “the sweet, soft voice of a woman” speaking to her and “saw the image of a beautiful woman with dark skin and an almond-shaped face.” That was the beginning of her continuing relationship with Jannette, the ghost of a slave who lived on the plantation in the 1850s. In a series of

conversations, Jannette told Crosby about her own romantic history: a love triangle with her master and another slave. She also showed Crosby visions of the locale through time and introduced her to other spirits, many of them denizens of the property’s slave cemetery. “My first event where I knowingly talked to a ghost was when I heard and saw Jannette physically in the room with me,” Crosby said. “She was there and it was two-way communication.” A dramatic acknowledgement of Crosby’s abilities occurred in February 2005 when she heard a television news report about a missing 9-year-old, and had a vision that revealed Jessica Marie Lunsford’s location. Crosby and her husband opted not to relay the information to the police because they thought it would not be credible. Once the truth of Crosby’s “remote viewing” was conﬁrmed, that decision weighed heavily on her conscience, and, she wrote, “My life has never since been the same.” “It was the ﬁrst time all my abilities came together and I knew the outcome of a crime. I could see, hear, smell and

ally. The effect feels misjudged. Clooney plays a Harvard art historian based on George Stout, a World War I veteran returning to the fields and villages of battle with a different objective this time. He’s the ringleader, and once he enlists James Granger (Damon, playing a character loosely inspired by James Rorimer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), it’s a matter of lining up the best character men for the job. Murray’s introduced atop a Chicago skyscraper, with the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower behind him. He plays an architect borrowing a bit of real-life architect Robert Posey’s story. One of the peculiarities of “The Monuments Men” is its generic texture; the men’s specific skills and interests are largely washed over. Clooney’s work as a director includes “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Good Night, and Good Luck” and “The Ides of March,” good films all. He also directed the period football comedy “Leatherheads,” proving his fallibility. “The Monuments Men” deals in an entirely different genre, but there’s a similar tonal indecision at work here. Now and then the film goes for the jugular, emotionally speak-

“What he wrote was bad … but the interesting effect that we noticed is that because the audience knew the context of the assignment, because they knew the constraints and they knew essentially why the piece was bad, they thought it was hilarious, which was very interesting.” Just like that, the fundamental building blocks of “The Exquisite Corpse Project” were assembled. The writers wrote their part of the scripts, cursing the previous writer for what they were given to work with, and the movie was shot. All the while, Popik was filming interviews with the writers, which he would use in the movie as well. Although it was written and filmed in relatively short time, the editing process ended up taking almost two years. “The original plan was to leave the writers’ sections completely intact,” Popik said. “We would see 15 minutes of one person’s section, then maybe we’d have three or four minutes of documentary material and then we’d see the next person’s completed section, then see three or four minutes of documentary material. Once we shot the whole thing, that’s how we edited it.” Popik said the first time through the editing process just did not work because the audience doesn’t want to go in and watch these 15 minute scenes straight through. “They’re too bad, especially Joel’s section … it’s quite tedious,” Popik said. “When that didn’t work, there was the mandatory panic — basically, ‘Oh my God, did we just waste months of our lives on this garbage?’ Then we started to just play around with ‘What if we introduce the documentary footage this way and that way …’ Eventually, through the editing process, we found a really satisfying way to work back and forth with the footage.”

‘know’ what was going on,” Crosby said about the pivotal event that opens her book. “Up until this point, I had gradually been recognizing abilities as I met Jannette and the other slaves on the plantation.” Being a medium does not conflict with Crosby’s devout Christianity. In fact, she wrote, “Over the years… with prayer and God’s help, I have assisted a number of spirits in crossing over into Heaven. That is, moving on from our physical dimension, through the tunnel of white light, into the dimension that is of God.” Crosby, who sets aside time before sleep to talk to her guides or angels, said she sees herself as “an instrument to help the other side connect to this world …. A mouthpiece — a channel, a medium — not really much different from a telephone or radio. As I experience information, I do the best I can to make sense of it, deﬁne it, and pass it on.” Instead of doing readings and offering advice to individuals, as is the wont of many mediums — “That is not what I’m here to do,” Crosby said — she devotes her time to investigative weekends at historic locales like the battleﬁelds at Gettysburg;

leading psychic training classes and workshops; lecturing at venues including colleges, plantations and historical societies; researching, writing and marketing her books; and, perhaps most important, working with missing persons networks and police — free of charge. Three new books are in the works. A sequel to “The Awakening,” titled “The Adventures of a Free Range Investigative Medium,” is half done and Crosby expects to complete it by July 2015. Among its ghosts is Annabelle, who, according to Crosby, is “5, almost 6.” Crosby learned that Annabelle drowned in the Patuxent River and located her grave. “The last year she [Annabelle] remembers is 1812. It could be her birth year, or her death year. I don’t know. She did drown, and she is with me all the time, mostly, but when she’s in my house, she plays with the dogs (one alive, two dead) and with her cousins and also my kids.” An ebook, “Conversations with the Ghosts of Gettysburg,” consisting of four stories, is due out this month, and Crosby hopes to release “Real Daughters,” conversations with the

ing, as when Murray’s architect tears up listening to his family’s homemade recording of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” That scene should kill, yet somehow it doesn’t. It’s not Murray’s fault: The scene needed a simpler, straighter attack, not all the fancy intercutting with ﬁeld hospital trauma footage. Realism schmealism: This is a Hollywood movie. But that sort of scene takes you out of the movie you’re trying to invest in. The actors are quite marvelous, and a brief sequence featuring “Downton Abbey’s” Bonneville as dissolute art lover out for redemption, in which he asks a superior officer for permission to go into Bruges and save a Madonna, provides exactly what the rest of the movie lacks — namely, some snap. Clooney acts with more charm than urgency in “The Monuments Men.” He’s a far better actor than many realize; he makes everything look easy. But this time he really does just sort of George-Clooney his way through. See John Frankenheimer’s “The Train” again, the one with Burt Lancaster, for a wholly different and genuinely exciting perspective on the same historical outrage.

THE EXQUISITE CORPSE PROJECT n When: 4 p.m. Sunday n Where: BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Dr., Germantown n Tickets: $8 n For information: 301-5282260; blackrockcenter.org

Although the film highlights the movie created by the writers, the project itself feels like it’s a full documentary about the writers. “Well, it didn’t start out as a documentary about them,” Popik said. “When these guys all signed on, they signed on to ‘Hey, let’s play this silly game!’ and everybody was on board with that. By the end, we found the most interesting footage was in the documentary footage with their relationships and the way they dealt with each other.” In the end, Popik hopes audiences really get the feeling that the movie really was a labor of love and that everyone had more than one hand in helping to make it a reality. “I personally shot the movie,” Popik said. “We were all the editors. Everybody you see in the film, if they’re not on-screen, they’re off and holding a boom mic. It’s really a film we made ourselves and I hope the take-away for young people is that. I think a lot of filmmakers get intimidated by the budgets they see on the big screen … I think content is more important than polish in many cases. “I would really encourage people to go out there an experiment and make a lot of content and not get too hung up on making ‘Iron Man 4.’” wfranklin@gazette.net daughters of soldiers who fought for the Confederacy, in conjunction with Atlanta’s celebration of the Civil War’s 150th anniversary in the spring of 2015. Crosby’s books are selfpublished, she said, because not only does she have a background in digital publishing, but also she refused to work with publishers who wanted her to make her stories spookier to enhance their marketing value. Ample matter is available for additional books. “I save my findings and use them for future material for books, and I research when I can, so I have lots of ideas for books that are a bit unique,” she said. “My father wrote nine books, which are not in print now, and I would like to use his historical research to write historical fiction eventually — after I tackle what is already on my plate.” That’s a substantial meal, but no doubt, Crosby can enlist some help from the spirits that surround her. “Investigative Medium: The Awakening” is available on amazon.com and www. lainecrosby.com.

Page B-10

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page B-11

Classifieds Call 301-670-7100 or email class@gazette.net

SILVER SPRING

Randolph Village Senior Apartments

1 BR SPECIAL

"Affordable Independent Living For Seniors 62+." Income Restriction Applies

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*Library *Resident Socials *Beautifully Landscaped Grounds

877.907.5577 (Office)

GAITHERHOUSE APARTMENTS

501B S. Frederick Ave #3 Gaithersburg, MD 20877

301-948-1908

301.622.7006 (Fax) Email: randolph@hrehllc.com

ROCKVILLE

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• Garden-Style Apartment Homes • On-Site Laundry Facilites • Kitchen w/ Breakfast Bar • Private Balcony/ Patio • Free Parking • Small Pets Welcome • Swimming Pool

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www.PinnacleAMS.com/GardensOfTraville

Se Habla Espanol

It’s BRAND NEW at Amber Commons 7 McCausland Place, Gaithersburg, MD 20877

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340 N. Summit Ave. • Gaithersburg, MD

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STRATHMORE HOUSE APARTMENTS

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kNewly Updated Units kSpacious Floor Plans

MUST APPLY IN PERSON WITH PHOTO ID TO:

Contact Ashby Rice

kSmall Pets Welcome kBalcony Patio

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Damascus-Garden@GradyMgt.com

(301) 460-1647 3004 Bel Pre Rd., Apt. 204, Silver Spring, MD 20906

or pricing and ad deadlines.

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tain Vistas. 8+ Acres $39,657. Enjoy it all! Pristine valley views, open meadows, tall hardwoods. The perfect mountain getaway! Perced, all mineral rights, warrenty deed, state road frontage, utilities. Enjoy peace of mind, coupled with best low down financing in years. Own at below market! Call now 800888-1262

DAMASCUS:

Charming 4BD, 2FB, Ranch. Completely renovated with hardwood floors & carpet. Granite counter tops & SS appliances. $345K. 313-220-1823

OLNEY: 1BD, 1BA

renovated condo, FSBO. New BA, Kit Cabinets, SS Appliances, Counters, New Floring, WIC, Fees incl water, heat, AC, Pool, Pkg. $135,000. For appt 301-774-1017

to advertise call 301.670.7100 or email class@gazette.net

G E R M A N : 3BR,

LVL TH 3BD 1.5 BA Fenced Yard $1675 301-787-7382 or 301787-7583 HOC OK

GERMANTOWN: 4

SIL SPR: MARCH RENT FREE FOR APPROVED APPLICANTS. 3br/2ba

BD, 3.5 BA TH. Near 270, bus & shopping. New carpet, new kitchen. $1900. HOC okay. 240-888-0592

GE RMA NT OWN :

TH w/ 3Br, 1.5Ba $1400 + util, parking, fenced yrd, W/D, Avail Now! 301-424-6759

3br/2.5ba TH patio np,ns $1450+util/dep, HOC ok 202-391-1311

MONT

VILLAGE:

TH, 3Br, 2.5Ba, 2 lvl, $1650/per mo + util nr 270, NS/NP Please Call: 301-613-4721

POTOMAC:

GBURG - 3 bd / 1 .5 ba,Fenced yard, Good location,HOC OK Avail now! $1550 301-9219225 or 301-412-1450

Renovated TH, 3Br, 1.5Ba, W/D, 2 car grg, fin bmst. AC, lrg private yard, great neighborhood and schools, park nearby, (soccer/tennis & more) surrounded by upscale houses $1850 + util /mo 240-481-9294 or yochanantennis@yah oo.com

GBURG: Spacious 3

POOLESVILLE:

GAITHERSBURG:

Townhouse for rent $1500 3br/2.5 BA 3 floors. Contact Raman at 240-899-5378

bd 2.5 ba TH w/ garage & deck. Near shops, metro & 270 $2500 301-330-1177

GERM: 3Br, 2.5Ba TH

3br 2.5ba Remodeld TH $1350 + 1/mo Sec Dep. N/s, N/p. Avail. Mar 1st. 240-876-9627

POOLESVILLE: TH

finished bsmt, patio, back yard, avail 03/01, $2000 + utils Ns/Np call 540-588-3481

3BR 1.5BA, W/D fncd bkyd, Pets Ok. $1395 + utils, avail immed Call: 301-407-0763

GERMANTOWN:

SILVER SPRING: 3

TH, 3Br, 2.5Ba, h/w flrs, updated kit, Ba & paint $1600 + util Pls Call: 301-956-4775

SFH,

4BR 2.5BA 3lvl Split 1/3 acre, tbl spac Kitch FR w/FP. Near metro / 270. Owner/Agent $2,350 301-924-5536

MONTGOMERY V I L L A G E : MONT VILLAGE- 2

ROCKVL:

2.5BA, totally remodeled TH, plenty parking, HOC welcome $1750/month Call Francis 301-570-0510

bed/2 1/2 bath finished basement NP $1700 util not included Call 301-774-9780

SFH, fin rec rm, hrwd flrs, W&D, CAC $1975 plus util, Metro/shops. 202-210-5530

S.SPRG/RVILLE:

3BD, 2FB, SFH. Recently remodeled. $1750 + dep. No vouchers. 240-606-0325

BELTSVILLE/LAU REL: furnished base-

ment with room with private BA in SFH. Gt community. $700 incl. utils. 240-273-2512

BOWIE: Furn rm in N.POTOMAC ROCKVILLE: 1 BR

Apt. $1150 incl util, CATV, Free Parking Avail now. NS/NP CALL: 301-424-9205

SFH, $550/mo utils incl Free Cable. Available March 1st! Call: 301-509-3050

FOR RENT: Office/light commercial. 960sq feet on Professional Drive at Frederick Road, Gaithersburg. Call 240-446-3486

GAITHER:

3 Bedroom + den, 2 Bathroom, renovated, Sec 8 welcome, Util incl 410-800-5005 GERM: 2BR, 2BA Nr I-270, Bus, Shops, $1,275 + elec., water incl. HOC Pref. Avail Now. 240-498-0606

SS: 1 bd /1 ba $1300

util inclu near Forest Glen Metro. New Kitch & Bath, LRG closets. Call (301)213-7749

ADELPHI: Lrg BR, walk to UMD. $595 utils incl. Sec Dep. Req. Avail Feb 1st Call: 301-213-3348

ADELPHI:

Renovated bsmt Br suite, priv entr, W/D, Nr UMD, $1450 utils incl. SD Avail 02/01 301-213-3348

OLNEY: 1 Rm in bsmt in SFH share kitchen $500 utils included, NS/NP Avail Now. 301-257-5712

GERMANTOWN :

OLNEY: Furn Bdrm

GERMANTOWN

Room in TH $500 incl utils. N/S, N/P. Avail immed CALL: 240361-3391

GERM: Bsmt, 1 BR, 1br, 1LR, 1ba, pvt 1 BA, sep entr, nr MC. entr, cable, int, util inc. w/d, refridge. $850/mo $800+ sec dep. Np/Ns incl utils. NS, NP. Avail Now. 301-366-1673 Call: 301-253-1370 DAMASCUS: Bsmt

DERWOOD- 2 bd’s

FOR RENT: 2 person, 425sq feet furnished office in shared unit on Russell Avenue at Christopher Avenue in Gaithersburg. 240-446-3486

Mature Male, Furn BRs. Util not incl. Near 61 Bus Line. Maria 240-671-3783

for rent $650 inclu bath, $525 shar kitch & utils, nr bus/shops & MC (240)449-0979

GAITHERSBURG:

1BD in Apartment. Share Bath & Kitchen. $530 + util. Wifi avail. 240-406-6694

GAITHERSBURG:

Male, 1 Br $299 & 1 master BR w BA $399. Nr Metro/Shops NP/NS. Avail Now. Call 301-219-1066

GERM: Bsmt w/pvt Entr, Ba, Br, nr schls, bus, util incl N/S N/P Avl now! Please Call 301-461-2636 GERM: Full basmt in TH $575 + utils & Sec Dep Requ. NS/No pets Avail 02/17 Call 202491-1565 GERM: Male 1Br in TH Share bath & kitchen $450 ut inc Nr MARC/Buses, Ref’s Req. 240-370-2301

+ Den avail in TH for mature female only! $500 util inclu + security dep 301-774-6075

OLNEY:

GREAT DEAL!! 1 Br, shr Ba, beautiful EU TH, female only $675/per month w/util, int, cable TV, NP/NS Call 301-774-4654

ROCK: Clean Lrg

MBR Suite, Prvt BA, W/in closet/office. Kit, FR, TV, INT., $825 util incl. 301-424-8377

ROCKVL: 2br, shr

BA & Kitch. $500/ea + util. Free wifi. Female only. Call 240-4495091

SILVER

SPRING:

2Rooms avail Mar.1st

$550/$465 w/private bath shared kitch & utils, 301-404-2681

full privlgs, pool ,beautiful setting, NS. $600 301-482-1425

GERM: Male only 2 SILVER SPRING BRs $400 each + utils MBR with private bath in TH NS/ND. Near available 02/01. $650 bus & shops. Sec Dep includes all utils. Call Req. 240-476-6224 240-505-8012

GAITH:M BRs $435+ 440+475+555+ Maid Ns/Np, nr 270/370/Bus shops, quiet, conv.Sec Dep 301-983-3210

HYATTSVILLE: Rm SS: Furnish BR w/pvt in Apt, shrd Ba/Kit, Ba in SFH, Fem Only Free Wifi, Cls to shops uti incl $675 +Sec Dep /metro, $600 inclds nr RIDE ON, Wheaton Metro 301-681-7848 utils. 301-728-7816

GAITH/LAYTONSV ILLE: Lrg Rm in SFH,

GAITH/MUDDY BRANCH: M/F only for LG lwr Lvl suite

w/ba,Fam RM w/FP NSTH $745 + utils avail Mar.3016747928

LAYTNSVL: M, N/S off street park, Furn Br, shr kit, lndry & comm. areas, homey, quiet $625 utils incl. TV/int 301- 253-9662

GERMAN: Bsmt in

MONT

TH, BA, prvt ent, shrd kit, Conv. loc, safe neigh, $800+ refs incls utils. 240-316-5944

VILLAGE

1 Br in TH, shrd Ba w/female NS/NP, $429/mo + util Call: 240-401-3522

SS: Furnished 2 BRs

in Bsmt, Liv Rm, Shrd BA/Kit, Prvt Ent. $750 ech/mo incl utils. NS/NP Cls to Veirs Mill & Randolph. Please 301-213-9797

S.S: RM for Rent

$500 util inclu, Shared kitch & bath near Bus & Shops. Avail Now. Call 301-919-2302

kFamily Room kFull Size W/D in every unit kSwimming Pool

G560368

(301) 670-2667

301-762-5224

Office Hours: M-F 9:00am - 6:00pm, Saturday 11:00am - 3:00pm

GAITHERSBURG

GERMANTOWN

GAITHERSBURG

14431 Traville Garden Circle Rockville, Maryland 20850

WASHINGTON DC: Brentwood NE,

WHEATON: 2 BD in

WHEATON 1 Large

WHEATON: Male

Lrg furn Br, shrd Ba, kit & W/D, 1 blk frm bus & 5 blks from Red/Metro $800/util inc 202-361-8087 BR, Female, 5min to Metro On Veirs Mill Rd $650 uti incl. NS/NP Call: 240-447-6476 NO Solicitors!

SFH Share Bath, NP, NS. $500 and $600, Util incl . Call 240271-3901

pref non-smoker, 1BR, shr BA, near metro, $525/mnth util incl +dep 301-933-6804

Page B-12

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

ANTIQUE SHOW

February 15 &16, 2014 Saturday & Sunday: 10am - 5pm Montgomery County Fairgrounds 16 Chestnut St ** Gaithersburg, MD - Dealers with Antiques & Collectibles for sale - Autographs: Negro League Baseball Players Adm: $6, $5 with ad, Free Parking (301) 649-1915 * johnsonshows.com

*OLD GUITARS WANTED!** Gibson,

FIREWOOD FOR SALE

FOR SALE: Bichon-

µ Includes Delivery µ Stacking Extra Charge Ask for Jose 301-417-0753 301-370-7008

ITALIAN CANE CORSO MASTIFF:

$235/cord $150 per 1/2 cord

WANTED! Old

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Born 1/20/2014 w/papers, dewclaws removed, tails docked & first shots and exams. Deposits now being accepted. Dam & Sire raised in home w/family. 240274-3130 text or call

ABSOLUTE GOLD MINE!

Absentee ownership! Candy vending route. 6 New machines placed into 6 new busy stores. Only $2500! Will train! Call after noon: 951-7634828

MAKE UP TO

$2,000.00+ Per Week! New Credit Card Martin, Fender, Ready Drink-Snack Gretsch, Epiphone, Vending Machines. Guild, Mosrite, Minimum $4K to Rickenbacker, Prairie to advertise $40K+ Investment ReState, D’Angelico, call SHITZU:Puppies, quired. Locations Stromberg, and Gib301.670.7100 M/F, 10wks old, Available. BBB Acson Mandolins/Banjos. WANTED TO PURB/W Brown/White. CHASE Antiques & or email credited Business. 1920’s thru 1980’s. $375 each. Call Fine Art, 1 item Or En- class@gazette.net (800) 962-9189 TOP CASH PAID! 1240-793-0464 tire Estate Or Collec800-401-0440 tion, Gold, Silver, Coins, Jewelry, Toys, TOP CA$H PAID FOR OLD ROLEX, Oriental Glass, China, Lamps, Books, TexPATEK PHILIPPE tiles, Paintings, Prints & CARTIER Notice of Application to Establish a Branch almost anything old WATCHES! Daytona, Submariner, GmtEvergreen Auctions Master, Explorer, 973-818-1100. Email Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, whose principal ofMilgauss, Day Date, evergreenauction@hot fice is located at One M&T Plaza, City of Buffalo, Erie County, etc. 1-800-401-0440 mail.com New York 14203, intends to apply to the Federal Reserve Board Guitar’s, Banjo’s, Violin’s & Ukulele’s. Any condition considered. Please call with description 1-800-4519728

HUNT AUCTION

Sunday, Feb 16,10:00 AM At Hunts Place

19521 Woodfield Rd (Rte 124) Gaithersburg, MD 20879 Furniture- Collectables Storage

301-948-3937

#5205 Look on Auctionzip.com

Indoor Flea Market

GP2382

Saturday, February 15th, 8am-1pm 20021 Aircraft Drive, Germantown, MD

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Health Information Study Receive $50

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You are invited to submit comments in writing on this application to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Attention: Bank Applications and Analysis Department, 33 Liberty Street, New York, DISH TV RETAILNew York 10045. The comment period will not end before Friday, ER . Starting at DROWNING IN DEBT? Stop collecFebruary 28, 2014. The Board’s procedures for processing appli- $19.99/month (for 12 tion calls. New or concations may be found at 12 C.F.R. Part 262. Procedures for proc- mos.) & High Speed solidated credit availa- CASH FOR essing protested applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. § Internet starting at ble. Bad credit ok. UNEXPIRED DIA262.25. If you need more information about how to submit your $14.95/month (where Call Century Financial BETIC TEST comments on community affairs aspects of the application or to available) SAVE! Ask 1-800-931-1942 STRIPS! Free Shipobtain copies of relevant procedures, contact Ms. Kausar About SAME DAY Inping, Friendly Service, stallation! CALL Now! GET FREE OF BEST prices and 24hr Hamdani, Community Affairs, (212) 720-8258; other questions, in- 1-877-992-1237 CREDIT CARD payment! Call today cluding those relating to general procedures, should be directed DEBT NOW! Cut 877-588-8500 or visit to Mr. Ivan Hurwitz, Bank Applications Function, (212) 720-5885. payments by up to www.TestStripSearch. The Federal Reserve will consider your comments and any re- ONE CALL, DOES half. Stop creditors com Espanol 888-440quest for a public meeting or formal hearing on the application if IT ALL! FAST AND from calling 877-8584001 1386 they are received in writing by the Reserve Bank on or before the RELIABLE ELECTRICAL REPAIRS last day of the comment period. & INSTALLA(2-12-14) TIONS. Call 1-800-

CASH FOR PERSONAL UNEXPIRED DIA- INJURY ATTORBETIC TEST NEY - Auto injury, STRIPS! Free Ship- wrongful death, insurping, Friendly Service, BEST prices and 24hr payment! Call today 877-588-8500 or visit www.TestStripSearch. com Espanol 888-4404001

MEDICAL ALERT FOR SENIORS -

24/7 monitoring. FREE Equipment. FREE Shippng. Nationwide Service. $29.95/Month CALL Medical Guardian Today 866-992-7236

ance claims, medical malpractice, nursing home negligene, defective/unsafe products, Free Consultation CALL 1-866-2450391

VOICE & PIANO LESSONS : I am of-

fering private voice and piano lessons in Rockville for all ages. I am also willing to drive to homes to accomondate busy schedules. Please call 757-635-6926 for more information.

Having a Yard Sale?

Let us spread the news!

24.99 24.99

$ $

*includes rain insurance

Call Today 301.670.7100

908-8502

a month. Call Now! Triple savings! $636.00 in Savings, Free upgrade to Genie & 2014 NFL Sunday ticket free!! Start Saving today! 1-800-2793018

ADOPTION- A Lov-

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Buy Harris Roach Tablets. Eliminate Roaches-Guaranteed. No Mess. Odorless. Long Lasting. Available at ACE Hardware, and The Home Depot.

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ing alternative to unplanned pregnancy. You choose the family for your child. Receive pictures/info of waiting/approved couples. Living expense assistance. 1-866236-7638

MADOPTION:M

ONE CALL, DOES IT ALL! FAST AND RELIABLE PLUMBING REPAIRS. Call 1-800-

Daycare Directory

796-9218

GP2387

plots, located in garden of meditation. Valued at $9,845; asking for $7,500 obo. Email: Kathyroyjohnson@veri zon.net or 301-3848116

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM M M M M Adoring Couple; Financially Secure, M M Sports, Travel, Art, Music M M awaits 1st Baby M M M M Expenses Paid M M M 1-800-562-8287 M M M Nicole M M MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

It’s FREE! Buy It, Sell It, Find It GazetteBuyandSell.com

AIRLINE CAREERS

begin here - Get FAA approved Aviation Maintenance training. Housing and Financial Aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 800-4818974.

AIRLINES ARE HIRING - Train for hands on Aviation Career. FAA approved program. Finanical aid if qualified - Job placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 877818-0783.

GP2388 G P2388

PARKLAWN MEM- DIRECTV - Over 140 ORIAL PARK: 2 channels only $29.99

Bethesda Village Daycare Children’s Center of Damascus Damascus Licensed Family Daycare Elena’s Family Daycare Debbie’s Daycare Kids Garden Day Care Reflections Daycare My Little Place Home Daycare Susanna’s Day Care Kids Love Jewelry

Lic#: 160373 Lic#: 31453 Lic#: 139094 Lic#: 15-133761 Lic#: 15-127060 Lic#: 139378 Lic#: 160613 Lic#: 131042 Lic#: 105189 Lic#: 161641

301-564-1966 301-253-6864 301-253-4753 301-972-1955 301-540-6818 240-601-9134 240-506-5343 301-947-8477 301-933-7342 301-625-1762

DEADLINE: MARCH 3rd, 2014

ELDERLY CARE I am a Licensed Experienced Caregiver. Leisure World (exp.) Live-out, Excel. Refs. Own Trans, Flex Hrs.

301-598-3114

Loving, caring, dependable Nursing Assistant looking for work. FT, day/night. Own car. Exc. ref. 240-476-6005

I AM SEEKING A JOB: Housecleaning

by day, 10 yrs exp, exc ref, Please Call: 301-661-5861

20817 20872 20872 20876 20876 20886 20886 20886 20902 20904

It’s FREE! Buy It, Sell It, Find It GazetteBuyandSell.com

Careers 301-670-2500 Road Service Technician

Gaithersburg location serving MD, DC & N. Virginia. Repairing cust. equipment and performing maintenance in the field. Competitive salary, company vehicle, health/dental benefits & profit sharing after one year. Email resume to brad@metrobobcat.com or fax to 301840-0521. Must have experience on compact equip, good cust. service skills, a good driving record and a CDL med. card.

Tag & Title Must be organized & efficient. T&T experience required. R&R/accounting exp. a plus. Great benefits. Call Laurie 301-212-3013

class@gazette.net

Education

CARPENTERS

CWC Remodeling, Inc. looking for carpenters, send resume and salary requirements to

cwc.inc@comcast.net

Customer Service Rep

High tech Gaithersburg company seeks self starter for permanent position. Must have strong typing and computer skills including excel spread sheets, excellent communication skills and be able to multi task. Benefit package. No phone calls please. Email tchaikin@nscainc.com

DRIVERS HOME WEEKLY & BIWEEKLY - Earn

$900-$1200/WK Class A CDL & 6 Mos. Exp. Req. No Canada, HAZMAT or NYC! 877-705-9261

Recruiting is now Simple! Get Connected

DELIVERY DRIVER

Suburban Propane, a nationwide provider of propane & related services has the following opening in the Rockville, MD area: Delivery Driver. Qual incl a HS Diploma or equiv. Class B CDL w/Hazmat and tanker endorsements, clean driving record. Strong team player w/excellent cust service skills, propane gas delivery experience preferred, flexible schedule w/after hours call-outs, heavy lifting required. Suburban offers a competitive salary w/incentive potential and comprehensive benefits including 401K and tuition reimbursement. For add’l info or to apply, please visit our website at: www.suburbanpropane.jobs. Click Career Opportunities and search for job opening ID 7421. As part of our hiring process, DOT physicals, background checks and preemployment drug tests are performed. EOE, M/F/D/V

CMMS Germantown location is looking for qualified: * Directors * Teachers * Assistant Teachers 90 hour certification and Bachelors Degree preferred. Please forward resumes to admissions@cmmschool.com

Foster Parents

Treatment Foster Parents Needed Work from home!

û Free training begins soon û Generous monthly tax-free stipend û 24/7 support

Call 301-355-7205

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page B-13

Careers 301-670-2500

class@gazette.net Real Estate

DENTAL ASSISTANT

Needed FT/PT for our endodontic office. We are seeking an experienced, energetic person that will compliment our team approach to quality centered care. Xray License required Rockville locations. Email: phelps@endogroup.com

Must R.S.V.P.

Education

Lab Technician Andrologist

Sunrise Learning Center Seeks Pre- School ft/pt Teachers for pre-school center in Gaithersburg. 90 hrs plus experience or college credit in ECE is needed.

The A.R.T Institute of Washington Inc. has an immediate opening for an Andrologist in Bethesda, MD. College education or cert. in a biological or chemical science pref. US citizenship req. Previous andrology experience &/or background check for work in a DOD facility is beneficial. Will train a qualified applicant. Work schedule requires some weekends & holiday work. EOE

VETERANS NEEDED Use your GI Benefits NOW for training in Healthcare. JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE Offered.

Call Now 1-888-3958261

Dental/ Medical Assistant Trainees Needed Now Dental/Medical Offices now hiring. No experience? Job Training & Placement Assistance Available 1-877-234-7706 CTO SCHEV

HEALTHCARE

WE’RE HIRING WEEKEND CNAS, GNAS, AND HHAS!

Provide non-medical care and companionship for seniors in their homes. Personal care, light housework, transportation, meal preparation. Must be 21+. Must have car and one year professional, volunteer, or personal experience www.homeinsteads.com/197 Home Instead Senior Care To us it’s personal 301/588-9023 Call between 10am-4pm Mon-Fri

Pharmacy/ Phlebotomy Tech Trainees Needed Now Pharmacies/ hospitals now hiring. No experience? Job Training & Placement Assistance Available 1-877-240-4524 CTO SCHEV

301-388-2626 301-388-2626

bill.hennessy@longfoster.com • Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. EOE

Comprint Military Publications has an immediate opening for a full-time, general assignment reporter in its Joint Base AnacostiaBolling Washington, D.C. office. Good writing and interviewing skills along with solid knowledge of AP Style a must; camera familiarity a help. E-mail resume and writing/photo samples to: jrives@gazette.net. We offer a competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, pension, 401(k) and tuition reimbursement. EOE.

CAREER FAIR

Thursday, February 20th • 9am – 3pm

The successful candidate must be detail-oriented & have superior communication and organizational skills. We seek a lab colleague who has the drive and enthusiasm for patient contact, quality control, regulatory compliance and who functions well independently.

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂

Salesperson Experienced preferred but not required Service Advisors Willing to train Quick Lube Technician Automatic Trans Tech Ford experience preferred – Rare opportunity! Body Shop Technician Experienced preferred but not required

NOW HIRING!

Restaurant Servers Bartenders Food and Beverage Supervisor Room Attendants Laundry and House person Desk Agents (PT/FT) Van Driver

Apply in person Crowne Plaza Hotel 3 Research Ct., Rockville, Md. 20850 Medical

SKILLED TRADE

PLUMBER IMMEDIATE Position Avialable for Plumber. MUST have 2 yrs exp. Great hourly pay, commission, weekly bonus & insurance. Drug free, customer oriented, and motivated. Only qualified applicants apply. 301-670-1944 - Gaithersburg

RECEPT/TECH

For Family Practice in Rockville. 1 yr exp with front office/tech. Patient appt scheduling, filing, chart prep, prescriptions, insurance verification/follow up of denied claims. Billing experience. Multi-tasking. Email Resume to: monakraj@gmail.com

Looking for a change? Ready to invest in your future? Find valuable career training here and online.

The Gazette Careers Delivers Quality, Skilled, local candidates!

Sheehy Ford Lincoln 901 North Frederick Ave. Gaithersburg, MD 20879

Please fax or email your resume to Aidita James at 888-399-7045 or aida.n.james.ctr@health.mil Hotel

Recruiting Health Pros?

REPORTER

We provide training for all those interested in applying, and are looking for personable, fun, and customer service orientated professionals. Bilingual speaking employees needed in all departments. All positions require a background and drug screening test before employment. Excellent pay with Great Benefits, 401k, Life, STD, Flexible spending and other insurance offered! GC3181

Call 301-208-6948

GC3191

Call Bill Hennessy

Family Services, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer [EOE]

TEACHERS

Work with the BEST!

Be trained individually by one of the area’s top offices & one of the area’s best salesman with over 34 years. New & experienced salespeople welcomed.

Family Services Inc.’s Watch Me Grow Child Development Center is dedicating to providing the most high quality form of child care for children aging from 6 weeks through age 5. Our mission is to enrich the lives of children by creating a warm and nurturing environment that encourages children to grow and experience appropriate developmental practices, personal interests, cultural diversity, and a lifelong love of learning. Our Watch Me Grow Child Development Center currently has the following positions open: two full time vacancies for Senior Staff Teachers for 2 year olds, one full-time position for a Before and After Care Coordinator, one full-time Senior Staff Teacher for the infant and toddler age groups, and two part-time Assistant Teachers. Please refer to our website http://www.familyservicesagency.org about the specific qualifications that are applicable to each of the positions. To apply to any of the positions listed above, please email resume and cover letter to careers@fs-inc.org or fax to 240-631-9356. GC3196

Silver Spring

Can’t make it to the event? Apply online at www.sheehy.com/applicant and look for the job position. SKILLED TRADE

HVAC SERVICE TECH

IMMEDIATE Position Avialable for NATE and/or Journeyman HVAC service technicians. MUST have 2 yrs exp. Great hourly pay, commission, weekly bonus & insurance. Drug free, customer oriented, and motivated. Only qualified applicants apply. 301-670-1944 - Gaithersburg Seminar

Interested in a career in decorating? Career opportunity seminar Thursday Feb. 20th @ 6:30pm - 8pm 10426 fawcett St, Kensington, MD RSVP to

jimkirlin@decoratingden.com

Janitorial

EVS Company seeking motivated individuals to fill positions available in the Silver Spring area. The job is convenient to public transportation. Please call 301-890-9797. EOE.

Part-Time

Work From Home

National Children’s Center Making calls. For more info please call Weekdays between 9a-4p No selling! Sal + bonus + benes. Call 301-333-1900

Place your ad today!

Page B-14

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Automotive

Page B-15

Call 301-670-7100 or email class@gazette.net

2008 FORD EDGE: 4dr, V6, blk, 104K miles, fully equipped, great cond. $15,300. Call 301395-5899

DONATE AUTOS, TRUCKS, RV’S. $$$$$ PAID! Running LUTHERAN MISor Not, All Makes! SION SOCIETY. CARS/TRUCKS WANTED! Top

Free Towing! We’re Local! 7 Days/Week. Call 1-800-959-8518

CA H

Your donation helps local families with food, clothing, shelter. Tax deductible. MVA licensed. LutheranMissionSociet y.org 410-636-0123 or toll-free 1-877-7378567.

ANY CAR ANY CONDITION

WE PAY TOP DOLLAR-FAST FREE PICKUP! SELL YOUR CAR TODAY! CALL NOW FOR AN

INSTANT CASH OFFER

DARCARS VOLVO OF ROCKVILLE

Any Make, Model or Year. We Pay MORE! Running or Not. Sell Your Car or Truck TODAY. Free Towing! Instant Offer: 1-888-545-8647

2005 Mazda Tribute

Full WANTED: Size Station Wagon Small/medium engine in MD, good cond. Sun-Fri 240-475-3210

#N110008A, 144k Miles

4,980

2007 Honda Accord EX-L

10,980

#422048B, 96k Miles

ALL APPLICATIONS REVIEWED WE HELP EVERYONE!

(301) 288-6009

G560639

Search Gazette.Net/Autos for economical choices

breast cancer families. Tax Deductible. Free Next-Day Towing. $1000 Grocery/Restaurant Coupons. Call 7 days/week United Breast Cancer Foundation 800-728-0801

CASH FOR CARS!

4 NEED AUTO FINANCING ASSISTANCE? 4 TIRED OF HASSLES? 4 WANT A FRESH START?

FOR CAR !

G558500

DONATE YOUR CAR - Give hope to

2006 Lexus IS 250

2003 Volvo S60

6,980

#422035A, 130K Miles

2005 Ford Escape Limited

10,980

2009 HondaAccordCoupe

2007 VW Passat

2012 Fiat 500 POP

#E0295, 42k Miles

7,980

#E0259A, 137k Miles

11,480

#N0294, 89k Miles w/Navigation

#P8834, w/Navigation, 106k Miles

2009 Volvo XC-90

EMAIL US AT BUILDMYCREDIT@JIMCOLEMANAUTO.COM OR CALL

1-866-464-1618

11,980

#426006A, AWD With Navigation, 176k Miles

2012 Hyundai Sonata Limited

17,280

#N0276, 22k Miles

#438145B, WithNavigation, 77kMiles

14,980

2008 Ford Expedition L

#327213B, With Navigation, 87k Miles

21,980

16,980

2009 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ Crew Cab

#327217C, 63k Miles

25,980

2007 Jeep Wrangler X......................................$13,480 2011 Volvo XC-90..................................................$33,980 #325118A #P8827, Navigation, 32k Miles 2008 Mazda MX5 Miata Grand Touring.......$17,480 2012 Volvo XC-60 R-Design Platinum..........$35,980 #325094A, 21k Miles #422036A, 37k Miles 2012 Volvo C30 Premium Plus................$18,480 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ.............................$37,980

#326023A, 46k Miles

#N0290, With Navigation, 45k Miles

2010 Volvo XC-90.........................................................$25,480 2013 Lincoln Navigator L................................$46,480 #P8828, Entertainment System, 47k Miles #N0279, With Navigation, 17k Miles

DARCARS

VOLVO

15401 Frederick Rd, Rockville, MD

www.darcarsvolvo.com

1.888.824.9165

Looking for economical choices? Search Gazette.Net/Autos

DARCARS

Selling Your Car just got easier! Log on to

Gazette.Net/Autos to place your auto ad!

As low as 29.95! $

See what it’s like to love car buying.

YOUR GOOD CREDIT RESTORED HERE

Page B-16

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

YOU ALWAYS GET YOUR WAY AT OURISMAN EVERYDAY

PRESIDENTS DAY SALES EVENT

OURISMAN VW

32 INCH HDTV WITH EVERY NEW & PRE-OWNED VEHICLE PURCHASE

FRIDAY (FEB 14), SATURDAY (FEB 15) & MONDAY (FEB 17)

2014 JETTA S

2013 GOLF 2 DOOR

04 Toyota Highlander LTD #462007B, $ 4 Speed Auto, Vontage $

2014 PASSAT S 2.5L

Blue, Sport Utility

#7380482, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

14,999

2014 PASSAT S #9009449, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

MSRP 22,765 $

BUY FOR

18,999

OR 0.9% for 60 MONTHS

2013 GTI 4 DOOR

BUY FOR

16,999

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

BUY FOR

#1679497, Power Windows/Locks, Sunroof, Auto, Loaded

#7415025, Automatic Power Windows, Power Locks, Bluetooth

BUY FOR

19,490

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

2014 PASSAT TDI SE

10 Scion XB $$

18,999

2013 JETTA TDI

#355064A, Release Series 7.0, SW, 4 Speed Auto, 1-Owner

13 Toyota Corolla LE #472176A, $ 1-Owner, 1.9k Miles, $

MSRP $25,510 - $5,000 OFF

4 Speed Auto

20,155 2014 TIGUAN S 4WD BUY FOR

13,800

15,500

11ToyotaRAV4 $$

#4116048, Automatic, Power Windows/ Power Locks, Keyless Entry

MSRP $26,960 BUY FOR

22,955

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

#9060756, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Locks, Sunroof

MSRP $27,385 BUY FOR

23,399

OR 0.9% for 60 MONTHS

#364568A, 4 Speed Auto, 1-Owner, 18K miles

#13543457, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

BUY FOR

13 Toyota Corolla S $$

#364525A, 4 Speed Auto, 22k miles, 1-Owner

17,700

08 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 3.0L #457003B, 7 Speed Auto, Mars Red

18,700

#472173A, CVT Transmission, 1-Owner, 11.6k miles, Brilliant Silver

2011 Toyota Camry LE......... $14,700 $14,700 #P8906, 1-Owner, 6 SpeedAuto, Spruce Mica, 39k Miles

$16,700 2013 Toyota Tacoma........... $16,700 #364577B, 4 SpeedAuto, 14.6k Miles, Reg Cab, Silver Metallic

22 Available...Rates Starting at 2.64% up to 72 months

11 Toyota Camry LE $$

#P8895, 1-Owner, 6 Speed Auto, 25k Miles

15,500

12 Toyota Camry LE #477442A, 16k $ Miles, 6 Speed $

Auto, Silver Mertallic

17,700

12 Toyota Camry SE $$

#472168A, 6 Speed Auto, 1-Owner, 6k Miles

19,700

2009 Nissan Murano SL....... $18,500 $18,500 #P8851A, CVT Trans, 4WD, Sport Utility 2012 Toyota Sienna Minivan. . $18,700 $18,700 #460044A, 6 SpeedAuto, 25k Miles, Silver Metallic

$18,800 2011 Toyota Avalon............ $18,800 #478001A, 6 SpeedAuto, 1 Owner, 4 Door 2007 Acura MDX................ $19,700 $19,700 #N0287A, 5 SpeedAuto, Tech/Ent Pkg, Steel Blue Metallic

2010 Toyota Prius II............ $16,800 $16,800 2013 Ford Escape SE.......... $21,700 $21,700 #P8874, CVT Trans, 1 Owner, 25k Miles, Barcelona Red #377732A, 6 SpeedAuto, 22k Miles, 1-Owner, Sterling Grey Metallic 2011 Chevy Traverse LS....... $17,900 $17,900 2013 Nissan Quest SV......... $26,700 $26,700 #363442A, 1-Owner, Sport Utility, Dark Blue Metallic #363238A, CVT Trans, 11k Miles, 1-Owner, White Pearl

2012 Jetta Sedan...#V348867A, Black, 14,749 miles..............$17,995 2012 Nissan Juke..#V257168A, White, 57,565 miles.............$18,491 2011 CC.....................#VP0032, White, 36,116 miles................$18,991 2011 Honda CRV.....#V003776A, Gray, 37,086 miles..............$18,992 2011 Tiguan S..........#VPR0017, White, 32,529 miles..............$18,995 2011 Jetta TDI...........#VP0034, Blue, 44,443 miles................$18,999 2013 Jetta SE...........#VPR0027, White, 6,101 miles...............$19,995 2013 Jetta SE............#VPR0030, Silver, 4,340 miles................$19,995 2013 Passat S...........#VPR0026, Black, 6,891 miles................$20,995 2013 Beetle Conv...#V827637A, Black, 20,496 miles..............$21,991 2012 Routan SE......#VP0033, Maroon, 12,853 miles..............$24,991

PRE-OWNED 3355 5 5 TTOYOTA OYOTA P R E - OW N E D DARCARS

G560637

All prices exclude tax, tags, title, freight and $200 processing fee. Cannot be combined with any previous advertised or internet special. Pictures are for illustrative purposes only. See dealer for details. 0% APR Up To 60 Months on all models. See dealer for details. Ourisman VW World Auto Certified Pre Owned financing for 60 months based on credit approval thru VW. Excludes Title, Tax, Options & Dealer Fees. Special APR financing cannot be combined with sale prices. * 32” HDTV quantities limited. Ends 02/28/14.

Ourisman VW of Laurel

G560638

3371 Fort Meade Road, Laurel

Online Chat Available...24 Hour Website • Hours Mon-Fri 9 am-9 pm • Sat 9 am-8 pm

13,800

$13,500 2012 Nissan Sentra 2.......... $13,500

24,999

1.855.881.9197 • www.ourismanvw.com

18,700

12 Nissan Altima S #470192A, CVT $ $ Trans, 2.5. Low Miles

2010 Scion XD.................. $12,800 $12,800 #P8873, 4 SpeedAuto, 24K miles, 1-Owner, Super White

MSRP $28,936

OURISMAN VW WORLD AUTO CERTIFIED PRE OWNED 2009 GTI..................#V551811A, White, 99,448 miles.............$12,991 2006 Toyota Tundra #V001658A, Gray, 51,123 miles..............$13,999 2009 CC.....................#V0022A, Black, 90,298 miles................$14,491 2006 Dodge Charger. .#V007711A, Yellow, 65,873 miles........$14,491 2011 Toyota Corolla #VP0020, Black, 30,992 miles................$14,991 2012 KIA Rio............#V415025A, Red, 57,565 miles...............$15,491 2012 Mazda 6..........#VPR0023, Black, 44,340 miles...............$15,491 2012 Nissan Altima.#VPR0024, Gray, 42,366 miles...............$15,991 2013 Passat S….....#VPR0031, Silver, 34,132 miles...............$15,999 2007 BMW Z-4.......#V006539B, White, 69,522 miles.............$16,991 2010 Tiguan.............#V563875A, Gray, 77,182 miles..............$17,491

11,999

MSRP $22,765

2013 BEETLE

MSRP $24,490 - $5,000 OFF

11,700

11 Ford Focus SE #364474A, Auto, 23k Miles, 1-Owner

#9009449, Automatic, Power Windows/Power Locks, Keyless Entry, Cruise Control

MSRP $20,860

MSRP $17,810 BUY FOR

#3096366, Automatic, Power Windows/Power Locks, Keyless Entry, Heated Seats, Bluetooth, Cruise Control

9,800

10 Toyota Corolla LE $$

#363279A, 4 Speed Auto, 1-Owner, Desert Sand Mica

See what it’s like to love car buying

1-888-831-9671 1-888-831-9671 15625 Frederick Rd (Rte 355) • Rockville, MD | OPEN SUNDAY

V VISIT ISIT U US S O ON N T THE HE W WEB EB A AT T w www.355.com ww.355.com

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 b

Page B-17

DARCARS NISSAN DARCARS

2004 Nissan Sentra S

#340139A, Auto, 4 Door, 1-Owner

See what it’s like to love car buying.

5,977

2003 Honda Civic DX

5,977

#441011A, Automatic, Silver

2013 NISSAN SENTRA SV MSRP: $18,360 Sale Price: Nissan Rebate NMAC Bonus Cash:

#12113 2 At This Price: VINS: 788738, 797494

2014 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5 S MSRP: $23,940 Sale Price: Nissan Rebate: Nissan Holiday Bonus Cash: NMAC Bonus Cash:

16,995

$14,995 -$500 -$500

13,995

With Bluetooth, Rear View Monitor #13114 2 At This Price: VINS: 190462, 259344

2013 NISSAN JUKE SV AWD

17,995

choices?

13,977

#446119A, Auto, 1 Owner, Special Edition, Sunroof, Navigation

$18,995 -$500 -$500

11,977

2007 BMW 3 Series 328Xi

14,977

#445067A, AWD, Automatic

17,995

2012 Nissan Altima 2.5s

$24,800 $20,995 -$2,500 -$500

#E0293, Auto, 1 Owner, 4 Door

14,977

2010 Volkswagen New Beetle

16,977

#442018A, Auto, Convertible, Final Edition

#20413 2 At This Price: VINS:221861, 221956

2014 NISSAN MURANO S$31,755 AWD MSRP: Sale Price: Nissan Rebate: Nissan Holiday Bonus: NMAC Bonus Cash:

With Bluetooth, #23214 2 At This Price: VINS: 504898, 506183 G560640

2012 Nissan Sentra 2.0S

2013MSRP: NISSAN ROGUE S$22,795 AWD

#22213 2 At This Price: VINS: 665691, 665708

MSRP: Sale Price: Nissan Rebate: NMAC Bonus Cash:

11,977

2011 Kia Forte SX #447501A, Black Leather, Low Miles, 5-Door, 1-0wner

$19,995 -$1,000 -$1,000 -$1,000

Sale Price: Nissan Rebate: NMAC Bonus Cash:

Selling for Looking Your Car just economical got easier!

2008 Nissan Rogue SL #E0263A, Automatic, FWD, Sport Utility, Leather, Sunroof

$27,245 -$2,000 -$750 -$500

2010 Cadillac DTS w/1SC #374548A, Auto, Sunroof, Heated/ Ventilated Seats

23,995

DARCARS NISSAN of of ROCKVILLE ROCKVILLE 15911 Drive • • Rockville, Rockville, MD MD (at (at Rt. Rt. 355 355 across across from fromKing KingFarm) Farm) 15911 Indianola Indianola Drive www.DARCARSNISSAN.com 888.824.9166 •• www.DARCARSNISSAN.com

Prices include all rebates and incentives. NMAC Bonus Cash requires financing through NMAC with approved credit. Prices Pricestax, include rebates incentives. NMAC Bonusand Cash requires financing through NMAC with approved credit.with exclude tags, all freight (carsand $780, trucks $725-$995), $200 processing charge. *Lease payments are calculated Prices exclude tax,$200 tags,processing freight (cars $810,and trucks $200 processing charge. valid only onthrough listed tax, tags, freight, charge first$845-$995), payment dueand at signing, and are valid withPrices tier one approval VINS. See dealer for details. Offer expires 02/18/2014. NMAC. Prices valid only on listed VINS. See dealer for details. Offer expires 10/22/2012.

17,977

2013 Nissan Juke SL #P8870, Navigation, Leather, Sunroof, 1-Owner, AWD

18,777

www.DARCARSnissan.com DARCARS NISSAN of ROCKVILLE 15911 Indianola Drive • Rockville, MD (at Rt. 355 across from King Farm)

888.805.8235 • www.DARCARSNISSAN.com

BAD CREDIT - NO CREDIT - CALL TODAY!

Search Gazette.Net/Autos

2014 NEW COROLLA LE ECO

36 $

NEW2 2014 COROLLA LE AVAILABLE: #470335, 470347

2 AVAILABLE: #470361, 470312

SWEET DEALS

79/ MO**

VALENTINE’S DAY

4 DR., 4 CYL., AUTO

NEW 2014 VENZA 4X2 2 AVAILABLE: #474515, 474506

24,690

15,790

4 DR., AUTO, 4 CYL., INCL.

NEW 2014 SCION XD 2 AVAILABLE: #453012, 453005

4 CYL., AUTO

AFTER $1,000 REBATE

169/mo.**

4 CYL., 4 DR., AUTO

NEW 2014 RAV4 4X2 BASE 2 AVAILABLE: #464032, 464051

NEW 2014 CAMRY LE 2 AVAILABLE: #472312, 472335

MO**

4 DR., 4 CYL., AUTO

NEW 2014 CAMRY SE

2 AVAILABLE: #477415, 477416

21,690

AFTER $750 REBATE

4 CYL., AUTOMATIC

AFTER $500 REBATE

NEW 2014 PRIUS II

21,590

2 AVAILABLE: #472008, 472036

0% FOR

HATCHBACK 4 DR., AUTO, 4 CYL.,

DARCARS

MONTHS+

On 10 Toyota Models

See what it’s like to love car buying

17,990

DEMO AUTO, 4 CYL., 4 DR

AFTER TOYOTA $1,750 REBATE

1-888-831-9671

15625 Frederick Rd (Rte 355) • Rockville, MD n OPEN SUNDAY n VISIT US ON THE WEB AT www.355Toyota.com

G560636

99/

PRICES AND PAYMENTS INCLUDE ANY APPLICABLE MANUFACTURE’S REBATES AND EXCLUDE MILITARY ($500) AND COLLEGE GRAD ($500) REBATES, TAX, TAGS, DEALER PROCESSING CHARGE ($200) AND FREIGHT: CARS $795 OR $810, TRUCKS, SPORT UTILITY AND SIENNAS $810, $845 AND $995. *0.9% APR & 0% APR FINANCING UP TO 60 MONTHS TO QUALIFIED BUYERS THRU TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. TOTAL FINANCED CANNOT EXCEED MSRP PLUS OPTIONS, TAX, AND LICENSE FEES. 0% APR 60 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $16.67 FOR EACH $1000 BORROWED. 0.9% APR 60 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $17.05 FOR EACH $1000 BORROWED. APR OFFERS ARE NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER CASH BACK OR LEASE OFFER. NOT ALL BUYERS WILL QUALIFY.**LEASE PAYMENTS BASED ON 36 MONTHS, 12,000 MILES PER YEAR WITH $995 DOWN PLUS $650 ACQUISITION FEE, NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED. SEE DEALER FOR COMPLETE DETAILS. 2014 COROLLA LE ECO & CAMRY LE LEASES ARE FOR 24 MONTHS WITH $995 DOWN. EXPIRES 02/28/2014.

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