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The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON

DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

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County has designs on park Improved entrance, reconfigured walkways possible in Bethesda n

BY

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

Planners with Montgomery Parks are designing the future of Freeland Park in downtown Bethesda and hope to have plans ready to pitch to the Planning Board this winter.

Caroline Freeland Urban Park is at 7200 Arlington Road in Bethesda, with houses on one side and shops and restaurants on the other. The park, which was purchased in 1983, already has a pavilion and a playground built in 2010.

Planners are refining designs to renovate the park in hopes of improving amenities and connections to downtown Bethesda, according to Montgomery Parks.

In March, planners debuted three possible schemes for renovating the park. The initial designs suggest revamping the entrance to the park from the intersection of Elm Street and Arlington Road with stairs and landscaping to lead people into the park. They also include adding event space and reconfiguring walkways through the park, which is near the Bethesda Library.

Earlier in the planning process, designers considered and rejected ideas for a skate park, a dog park and playing fields, The Gazette previously reported. The 1-acre park is too small to incorporate some elements that people might like, and six parks offer playing fields and courts within a mile of Freeland Park, a project manager said at the time.

This spring and summer, designers are expected to develop and refine a preferred plan to take to the Planning Board this winter, according to the Montgomery Parks website.

If the board approves the plan,

See PARK, Page A-10

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Riders with the Great MoCo Bicycle Summit bike up Second Street in Silver Spring on Saturday.

Cyclists seeking higher profile n

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Ellen McCormick of Chevy Chase and her 3-year-old son Simon enjoy the swing at Caroline Freeland Park in downtown Bethesda recently. Big changes are in store for the county park on Arlington Road.

Advocates seek ways to make biking more mainstream

BY

STAFF WRITER

Most people have at least some interest in biking, advocates say, and overcoming their reservations is the first step toward making biking a mainstream form of transportation.

Bike advocates at the Great MoCo Bicycle Summit on Saturday in Chevy Chase pointed to a study in the Portland, Ore., area that found more than half of people were interested in biking more, but didn’t feel comfortable making it a part of their daily routine, especially

boost from lawmakers n

MONTGOMERY PARKS

An artist’s rendering shows three possible configurations for Freeland Park. Construction of the park isn’t likely for several years.

Redskins’ new ‘first ladies of football’ make cut Women balance careers, other commitments with passion for dance n

E LIZABETH W AIBEL STAFF WRITER

After months of preparation and three rounds of auditions, a new team of cheerleaders danced to “Hail to the Redskins” together for the first time Sunday in Bethesda.

The final stop in the audition process to pick the 2014 Redskins cheerleaders was a ticketed event at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club. For a full house of friends and fans, 60 women showed off their dance, cheer and modeling skills in a bid to join the “first ladies of football.”

From a pool of about 200 who came to the first audition, 60 were selected to audition Sunday in a final that

See DANCERS, Page A-10

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

The final auditions for Redskins cheerleaders were held at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club on Sunday.

SPORTS

NEWS

Georgetown Prep freshman golfer views life differently after facing down brain cancer.

Volunteers help remove invasive plants around the county.

FINDING A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE B-1

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See CYCLING, Page A-10

Prekindergarten gets New program to direct funds to public, private providers

BY

BY

ELIZABETH WAIBEL

on nonresidential roads.

“We win when we get that full 50 percent able to bike comfortably,” said Shane Farthing, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

Farthing, one of several planners and bike advocates who spoke at the conference, said the first challenge in making bicycling more mainstream is getting people who are not regular cyclists to consider biking.

That means making infrastructure more bike-friendly, but also using marketing campaigns, outreach and signs to remind people that biking is an option for getting around.

David Anspacher, a plan partner coordinator with

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LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Maryland school systems and private providers will soon have access to a new grant program aimed at expanding prekindergarten services in the state.

Gov. Martin O’Malley signed on Tuesday the PreKindergarten Expansion Act of 2014, which sets aside grant money to help programs take in more children, jump from half-day to full-day services or open their doors for the first time.

The O’Malley administration labeled the act one of its priorities in the state’s 2014 legislative session, which ended Monday.

The program will start in fiscal 2015 with about $4.3 million.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) said the legislation marks another step toward the larger goal to provide universal, halfday prekindergarten by 2018.

The state will seek out the best, most innovative public and private programs to channel grant funds to, he said.

“Our intent is to see an equitable distribution around the state,” Brown said. “We would like to see, if not every county, every region of the state have a program that is funded [through the grant program].”

He said the new grant funds will allow about 1,600 more children to attend prekindergarten programs than the current 29,000 low-income children in the state who use the services.

Janine Bacquie — director of Montgomery County Public Schools’ Division of Early Childhood Programs and Services and co-chairwoman of the Montgomery County Early Childhood Advisory Council —

See PRE-K, Page A-10

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Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

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PEOPLE& PLACES More online at www.gazette.net

Building bridges a challenge in Mozambique

Will Zweig is a Peace Corps volunteer, but an African district administrator was initially suspicious about the Bethesda man’s reason for being abroad.

“He told my counterpart that he wasn’t sure if I was a spy or not,” Zweig said. “It’s not unheard of for Peace Corps volunteers to experience.”

The 28-year-old Zweig is in Mozambique, building a pedestrian trail bridge in the city of Montepuez, where heavy rainfall causes frequent flooding. Zweig has been working in the country since September 2012. Twice, he has experienced the rainy season’s impact.

“When it rains, it pours out here: You see the change in the landscape and it’s drastic,” he said.

Zeig said the rainy season begins in late fall and continues through January, transforming shallow streams into massive, fastflowing, almost impassable rivers filled with crocodiles.

“When the season comes, people become stranded. They’re cut off,” he said.

Zweig, who studied engineering in college, is working now three local communities, trying to build a 115-foot suspended pedestrian bridge across one of these rivers, so residents can safely cross.

The bridge would help stimulate the communities’ economies.

Farmers will be able to use the fertile land on the other side of the river and gain access to market opportunities. Hospitals and specialized medical posts, secondary schools and a main transportation hub are all on the other side of the river, too, he said.

Zweig said the project is community-oriented on a small scale, benefiting local people, rather than the larger district or government.

“You don’t see the same impact — not tens of thousands of people affected — but it will still have an impact,” he said. He estimates the bridge will directly benefit 6,000 people and indirectly benefit 20,000.

The project is partially funded by the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which helps Peace Corps projects globally. The community itself funded 25 percent of the project, and residents will provide labor, Zweig said.

The project hasn’t been without its challenges. In early March, the bridge’s original construction site was submerged. Zweig had to reevaluate his original budget and design for a new location at a higher elevation.

Last week, he said construction was set to begin in July, with the bridge completed in time for the next rainy season. But environmental conditions have halted construction again, he said Monday.

“We haven’t given up yet, and don’t plan on it until we absolutely have to, we are fighting an uphill battle,” Zweig wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette.

Zweig is writing about his experiences, including progress updates on the project, on his blog, USSWilly.blogspot.com.

White Flint panel has vacancy The county is seeking a new member to fill a vacancy on the White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee. The group is working toward establishing an urban district in the White Flint area in North

EVENTS National Association Federal Retirees Legislative Priorities 2014, 11:30

a.m.-1:30 p.m., Alfio’s Restaurant, 4515 Willard Ave., Chevy Chase. $21. 301469-0352.

How Does Your Garden Grow?, 1-2 p.m., Locust Grove Nature Center, 7777 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda. Ages 3 to 5. $5. Register at www.parkpass. org.

Silent Retreat and Labyrinth Walk, 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 12, Cedar Lane Unitarian Church, 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda. $20; registration required.

301-493-5082.

Glen Echo Salsa Social, 8 p.m.midnight, Glen Echo National Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. $12.

703-599-3300.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12 Little Falls Creek Clean-Up, 9 a.m.-

noon, Little Falls Park, sign in at the end of Elliott Road, the park entrance

Bethesda.

To apply, send a cover letter and resume to County Executive Isiah Leggett at 101 Monroe St., 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850 or countyexecutive.boards@montgomerycountymd. gov. Include home and employment addresses, plus contact phone numbers and email addresses. The deadline to apply is April 16.

Walk for Williams syndrome is May 3 The Williams Syndrome Association is inviting the community to its May 3 Frederick Walk for Williams, aimed at raising awareness and funds for the disability.

The walk will be held at the Villages of Urbana Community Center, 9023 Harris St., Urbana. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk will start at 10 a.m. There also will be face painting, games, balloon animals and a silent auction.

Williams syndrome is a genetic condition characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability or learning problems, unique personality characteristics, distinctive

at Massachusetts Avenue or the end of Albemarle Street and Tournay Road.

Free. 301-641-4150.

Mindstorms Workshop, 2-4 p.m., Little Falls Library, 5501 Massachusetts Ave., Bethesda. Ages 11-14. Free. 240773-9520.

NIH Chamber Singers Concerts Spring ’14, 3 p.m., Rockville Library,

21 Maryland Ave., Rockville; additional concert at 3 p.m. April 13 at Christ Lutheran Church, 8011 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Free. krystencarrera@ msn.com.

Bethesda Big Train Celebrity Softball Classic, 5:30 p.m., Shirley Povich

Field, 10600 Westlake Drive, Bethesda. bart@bigtrain.org.

Community Ministries of Rockville’s Celebration of Our Services Gala, 6

p.m., Lakewood Country Club, 13901 Glen Mill Road, Rockville. $90. 301637-0730.

Easter Song: A Community Celebration of Christ, 7-8 p.m., Washing-

ton D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center, 9900 Stoneybrook Drive, Kensington. Free.

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Nearly New Tag Sale, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.,

Norwood School, 8821 River Road, Bethesda. Free admission. GannonKelly@gmail.com.

MORE INTERACTIVE CALENDAR ITEMS AT WWW.GAZETTE.NET 301-587-0144.

NIH Philharmonia in Concert, 7:30

p.m., St. Elizabeth Church, 917 Montrose Road, Rockville. Free. smd8z@ hotmail.com.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13 Holy Child Tiger Trot 5K Race, 8:30

a.m.-noon, Connelly School of the Holy Child, 9029 Bradley Blvd., Potomac. $25-$30. www.holychild.org/ tigertrot.

Breakfast Speaker John J. McCarthy, state’s attorney for Montgomery County, 9-10:15 a.m., Bethesda United

Church of Christ, 10010 Fernwood Road, Bethesda. Donations accepted.

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Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Brightview Fallsgrove

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Clarksburg’s Naja McAdam competes in the high jump at a meet on Saturday in Clarksburg.

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TUESDAY, APRIL 15 a.m., Croydon Creek Nature Center, 852 Avery Road, Rockville. $6. 240-3148770.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 10:30 a.m., The Puppet Co. Playhouse, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. $5.

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County Executive Candidates Forum, 6:30-9 p.m., Rockville Memorial

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facial features, and cardiovascular problems, according to the National Institutes of Health website.

People with Williams syndrome typically have difficulty with visualspatial tasks such as drawing and assembling puzzles, but they tend to do well on tasks that involve spoken language, music and learning by repetition. They have outgoing, engaging personalities and tend to take an extreme interest in other people. Attention deficit disorder, problems with anxiety and phobias are common.

Also, young children with Williams syndrome have distinctive facial features, including a broad forehead, a short nose with a broad tip, full cheeks and a wide mouth with full lips. Williams syndrome affects about one in 7,500 to 20,000 people.

Admission for the walk is $20, or $50 for a family of four. Those who register by Saturday will receive a free Williams Syndrome Association T-shirt.

To register or make a donation, visit walk4williams.org. For more information contact Erin Rupolo at 301-370-2688 or erupolo@williamssyndrome.org. a.m., The Puppet Co. Playhouse, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Ages 0-4. $5. 301-634-5380.

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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.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

PHOTO FROM WILL ZWEIG

Peace Corps volunteer Will Zweig (right) of Bethesda works with a community member in Montepuez, Mozambique, where he plans to help build a pedestrian bridge.

Mobile Download the Gazette.Net mobile app using the QR Code reader, or go to www.gazette.net/mobile for custom options.

GAZETTE CONTACTS The Gazette – 9030 Comprint Court Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Main phone: 301-948-3120 Circulation: 301-670-7350

Library, 21 Maryland Ave., Rockville.

Free. Email montgomerycivic@yahoo.com.

CORRECTION

7-9 p.m., Shulman Rogers Building, 6th floor, 12505 Park Potomac Ave., Potomac. Free, registration required.

301-656-5794.

The April 2 School Snapshot chart incorrectly referred to prekindergartners through fifth-graders at Westland Middle School. Westland has grades 6 through 8.

The Collaborative Divorce Process,

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

LOCAL

Primping for the prom

Planners seek more data on road, park n

150 shop at BethesdaChevy Chase’s Once Upon a Prom dress giveaway n

BY

SHEMAIAH ELLIS

SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

Platt Ridge Drive could be extended through a corner of park in Chevy Chase BY

Page A-3

Finding that perfect prom dress is difficult. Getting one when you’re strapped for cash is nearly impossible.

In hopes of easing some of that burden, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Thursday hosted its fourth annual “Once Upon a Prom” dress giveaway.

Organized by school parent Wendy Silver of Bethesda four years ago, the program aims to provide prom dresses to lessprivileged girls, so they have a chance to feel special on prom night.

“Compared to previous years, we saw a spike in attendance, which is wonderful because we really tried to get the word out,” Silver said. “It’s good to know that more of the community is hearing about the event.”

About 150 people came to this year’s dress giveaway in the school’s dance studio, including mothers and friends of girls looking for their perfect gown.

The giveaway attracted girls

ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER

Planners say they need more information before they can determine whether an access road planned to cut through the corner of a Chevy Chase park is necessary.

The Montgomery Planning Board deferred action Thursday on a set of three requests related to the county’s plan to extend Platt Ridge Drive between Jones Bridge Road and Montrose Drive to provide another entrance to the Chevy Chase Valley neighborhood.

The county and the State Highway Administration planned the road extension several years ago to help deal with an expected jump in traffic from the move of Walter Reed Hospital to Bethesda nearby under the Pentagon’s Base Realignment and Closure program, according to Planning Department documents. Since then, traffic hasn’t been as bad as anticipated, the documents said.

The proposed road extension cuts through the southeast corner of North Chevy Chase Local Park. But before the Planning Board gives the go-ahead for putting a road in, its members want to see more data on traffic and crash history to show the road is necessary, said Larry Cole, a master planner with the Planning Department.

“Since we’re going to be losing a good chunk of parkland and the forest, you have to prove that’s the only way,” Cole said.

The board delayed taking a vote on the road extension because it needed comments from an arborist before it could vote on a forest conservation plan, Cole said.

The board did hear testimony and asked the county’s Department of Transportation for more traffic information.

Cole said he expects the proposed road extension to be back before the Planning Board in a couple of months.

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

(From left) Senior Peyton Silver, freshman Rebecca Leggett and eighth-grader Tory Silver help senior Emnet Negussie size up a prom dress at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School dress giveaway on Thursday. from surrounding high schools such as Albert Einstein in Kensington and John F. Kennedy in Silver Spring and some from as far away as Howard County, Silver said. The number was about double that of last year and many more than the first year, when only 20 came, Silver said.

“The most rewarding part is seeing the smiles on girls’ faces after they try on a dress that suits them,” she said. “That’s magical.”

Silver gets dresses from individual donations and many from Ashley Taylor, a Washington, D.C., socialite who started the original “Once Upon a

Prom” organization.

“Last year we got a number of dresses from a retailer who was going retail to online,” she said. “I have about 150 dresses stored in my basement.”

This year she added a raffle to the event, giving away certificates for manicures, pedicures, “blowouts” from Drybar

in Bethesda, and other gifts and services.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase seniors Peyton Silver and Chloe Druskin, both 17, co-presidents of Once Upon A Prom this year, plan to pass the torch to Silver’s younger sister, Madison, a freshman.

“I hope to keep the club vibrant and alive within B-CC and the community. I’m glad I’ve found a plan to keep it going in the years to come,” Wendy Silver said.

Other schools in the county offer low-cost prom dresses to their students and nearby community.

Northwest High School in Germantown held its annual Cinderella’s Closet Prom Dress sale Friday. Donated dresses were sold for $20, with proceeds going to community services through the school’s Northwest Ambassadors. About 60 dresses were sold Friday and the school plans to host a second sale from 2:30 to 5 p.m. May 2.

Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville hosted a drive named Project Prom, also Friday, giving the option of 56 dresses for girls to choose from for $10.

Organizers from Paint Branch were not available for comment on their program.

Students take to the streets to close the gap n

Group seeks to highlight issue, program efforts BY

Performance gaps between student groups — especially those between black and Latino students, and their white and Asian peers — remain a longstanding issue for Montgomery County Public Schools.

With a little more than three weeks left to plan and recruit participants for the march, the students and their teachers in the program met at Clarksburg High School on April 2 to discuss a range of issues, including where they stood cultivating interest in the event from their peers and others.

Gabriella Bianchi, a 16-yearold sophomore at WoottonHigh School in Rockville, said after the meeting her school has a small percentage of minority students and many of her friends aren’t aware of the achievement gap.

“It just doesn’t make sense to them because at our school, the problem, socially, isn’t a very big issue,” said Bianchi, a co-leader of Wootton’s Minority Scholars Program.

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

A group of Montgomery County students is marching to close the achievement gap — and it wants everyone to join in.

The roughly 20 students organizing the March to Close the Gap hail from Minority Scholars Programs at about 10 high schools around the county. As leaders and members of the program aimed at closing the gap, the students have planned the march as a platform to share their work and direct attention and support to the issue they say is prevalent but sometimes unknown.

The march on April 27 will take its participants from the Carver Educational Services Center to the Montgomery County District Court in Rockville.

ewaibel@gazette.net

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To raise support at Wootton — where the idea of the march originated — Bianchi said she and others had reached out to a range of student groups and were working toward a spot on the school’s announcements and sending information home to students’ families.

She said the march has received “good support so far” at the school, but there was more work for them to do in the next few weeks.

“We don’t have as much support as we wish we had,” Bianchi said.

Mariam Jalloh-Jamboria, a senior at Clarksburg High School who leads its Minority Scholars Program, said she has emailed area churches and mosques and talked to members of other groups she’s involved in.

“Anything that I have my foot in is where I’m promoting the march,” she said.

Jalloh-Jamboria, 17, said she has learned that performance gaps exist beyond those

found between students of different races. Gaps also appear along the lines of socioeconomic status and sexual orientation, she said.

In her outreach, she said, she has told others that, whether they are a minority student or not, the gap and the Minority Scholars Program’s work affects them.

Skylar Mitchell, a junior at Walt Whitman, joined the efforts to organize the march after hearing about the event from Michael Williams, a Minority Scholars Program coordinator and a fellow member of the county school system’s African American Student Achievement Action Group.

Mitchell said she has not seen many other minority students in her advanced placement and honors courses.

She said, from her experience, she thinks minority students too often don’t strive for academic success.

“If we’re not all exceeding at

the same rate for whatever reason, there’s a problem, and that’s something that needs to be addressed,” she said.

Williams, a teacher and the Minority Scholars Program coordinator at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, said the program coordinators involved in the march’s planning knew the students were “on to something” when they raised the idea of a march.

The march, he said, will serve to raise awareness and garner support from the community for efforts to close the gap.

Vilma Najera, a foreign language resource teacher and the Minority Scholars Program coordinator at Clarksburg High, said she thinks the issue has escaped many county students.

“I think a lot of kids don’t get it, and I think it’s just because it’s not a conversation a lot of kids are having,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net

REAL ESTATE

Obituary

TODAY

Donovan King passed away peacefully on March 28, 2014. His wife and daughters were at his side. He was 55.

Donovan worked for the National Education Association, and previously, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, both in Washington, D.C. He studied at Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Lewis and Clark College.

Donovan dedicated his life to serving others and making the world a better place. He faithfully worshiped God. He worked tirelessly for worker rights and social justice. He was a loving husband to Diane, and a devoted father to daughters, Christina and Angeline.

He is also survived by his mother, Luanne; brothers Peter and Jeff, sisters-in-law Lisa, Cindy, Beth, Jenni, Lori, Karen and Wendy; brothers-in-law, Bruce, Chaz and Chris; an uncle and aunt, Tom and Esther and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father, Donald; his brothers Todd and John and sister-in-law, Lorraine.

GRI, SRES TIMING THE MARKET If you are waiting until the real estate market has finally touched bottom before you buy a home, just know that even the most successful real estate investors say that it’s really impossible to accurately time the market.

However, there are a few indicators that seasoned investors use to decide whether a property is a good investment. First, they look at local market conditions. If there are a lot of properties for sale that eventually sell below asking price, then you have a “buyer’s market”; which means you can negotiate a better deal at the bargaining table.

Interest rates are also important. Most buyers think that the asking price of a home is the key financial issue to consider, but the interest rate is actually more significant. The difference of 1 percent doesn’t sound like much, but it could mean many thousands in savings over the lifetime of the loan.

Today, with home prices and interest rates at historic lows, experts say this is a perfect climate to buy.

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THE GAZETTE

Page A-4

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

AROUND THE COUNTY Officials promise school construction study n

Top issue for Montgomery County lawmakers BY

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County will not get more school construction money for next fiscal year, which starts July 1, but Annapolis leadership is not willing to let the issue stagnate.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Tuesday that he and Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D) have agreed to issue an executive order to study alternative financing methods for school construction.

“Last night while y’all were out there partying,” Miller said at a bill signing Tuesday morning with O’Malley. “The governor and I were working.”

In the final hours of the session Monday, the Senate squatted on legislation requiring a study of alternative financing methods for school construction funding, effectively killing it.

“We were so sure, even at 5 minutes to 12,” Sen. Nancy J. King said. “I was just sure it was going to come up on the calendar and we were going to vote on it.”

But the bill never resurfaced.

“And when it’s midnight, it’s done no matter what,” King (DDist. 39) of Montgomery Village said.

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said repeated special orders — motions to delay consideration of a bill — kept pushing off the final vote.

When the balloons fell and the cheers rose marking the end of the

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village and Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Dist. 12) of Columbia confer during the final day of the General Assembly’s 2014 session in Annapolis on Monday. King and other Montgomery lawmakers, pushed — unsuccessfully — for more school construction money for the county.

90-day session, King said Montgomery lawmakers flocked to talk to Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach.

Miller said Tuesday the executive order will resolve the issue.

King, who attended the bill signing, said she understands the order will require what the bill required, a study with recommendations by December.

Montgomery lawmakers said early in the session that establishing a steady, predictable stream of school construction funding was their top priority.

Montgomery County Public Schools enrollment has been steadily growing by about 2,000 students per year, the equivalent of a high school, according to county figures.

But midway through the session, Delegation Chairwoman Del.

Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist. 14) of Calverton and King both admitted that there was little hope of a program passing this year. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) also said the county knew it likely faced a multiyear battle.

Lingering state structural deficit meant Maryland lacked the money Montgomery sought.

A study of funding mechanisms was a compromise crafted to still move the issue forward, King said.

Council President Craig L. Rice said a study should be able to give state lawmakers concrete evidence of what Montgomery faces.

“We knew it was going to be a hard sell for us to get this done this first year,” Rice (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said. “I think this [study] really sets us up well for next year.”

All three of the Democratic candidates for governor — Del.

Heather R. Mizeur, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler — have openly supported the county’s push for the funds.

“I’m hopeful that whoever is governor next year — assuming it’s a Democrat, we have a 100 percent chance of having a governor from one of the jurisdictions that benefit from this plan — that we will get it through,” Madaleno said.

Leggett (D) said in a statement Tuesday that Montgomery made significant progress and he remains confident it will ultimately be successful.

Other legislation of note: • Maryland expanded its antidiscrimination laws to include gender identity.

• Maryland made it no longer a crime to possess small amounts of marijuana. While still illegal, possession of a small amount of pot will not automatically result in jail time, but rather a civil fine starting at $100 for a first offense.

• Maryland expanded its laws for medical marijuana by allowing specialized doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients and by licensing growers and dispensaries in the state.

• Maryland closed a loophole in a law protecting students by including part-time, temporary and contract employees and coaches among those who cannot engage in sexual contact with students.

• Maryland made fatal accidents caused by driving and texting, or holding a hand-held device, punishable by up to 1 year in jail. kalexander@gazette.net

InBrief Transit Advisory Group seeks members The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is seeking 12 regular passengers of the county’s Ride On bus system to serve on its Transit Advisory Group.

Those interested should email, fax or send a letter to the agency containing the following information: • Name, home address, city, state and zip code.

• Day/evening telephone numbers.

• Email address.

• Length of time using Ride On. • Frequency of using Ride On. • The contributions you hope to provide to the Transit Advisory Group.

• Personal or professional background information.

Email the information to mcdot.tag@montgomerycountymd.gov, fax to 240-777-5801 or mail to Division of Transit Services, Transit Advisory Group, 101 Monroe St., 5th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850.

Applications will be accepted through Tuesday.

For more information, montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-transit and click on current events or call 240-777-5800.

MADD meets at Rockville library The Maryland chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving will hold a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Rockville to announce new data about underage drinking prevention from a national survey of high school students.

The talk precedes the group’s fourth annual PowerTalk 21 day on April 21, a national day for parents to start talking with their children about alcohol. The day is designed to coincide with the start of high school prom season.

The talk at Rockville Memorial Library will feature Herman Bonaparte, program coordinator with MADD, and Jan Withers, the group’s national president.

The library is at 21 Maryland Ave.

Waste-to-energy plant honored by EPA

Parents, sons charged in drinking party fracas due in court this week n

Cellphone records are being examined

BY

T IFFANY A RNOLD STAFF WRITER

A mother, a father and a son charged with attacking police and providing alcohol to teens during their son’s 21st birthday celebration are scheduled to appear in Montgomery County District Court on Thursday.

The parents — George Magas, 54, and Cathy Magas, 46, and their sons, Nicholas Magas, 21, and Eric Magas, 18 — were charged with 21 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, in addition to obstruction and hindering, according to online court records.

The charges stem from what police allege happened when officers responded to a complaint about a party at the family’s house in the 9400 block of Damascus Road on Jan. 4, just prior to midnight. Police described seeing teens drinking in the yard and said there was a keg outside a stairwell of a basement, where 35 underage partiers were allegedly drinking.

Police said residents wouldn’t let officers inside the home. A struggle ensued when officers tried to obtain the keg outside and saw someone coming out of a basement door trying to grab several cases of beer, police alleged.

Police said attendees tried to slam the front door on the

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officer’s arms and a second officer who tried to help also was assaulted. Meanwhile, partygoers inside were banging on windows, yelling profanities and making video recordings of the scuffle.

Police alleged that homeowner George Magas, the father, had to be subdued by a stun gun because he reached for an officer’s holster.

Magas additionally was charged with attempting to disarm a law officer, attempting to incite a riot and three counts of second-degree assault.

The Magas brothers also were charged with attempting to incite a riot.

Eric Magas and mom Cathy Magas additionally were charged with seconddegree assault.

Montgomery County police spokeswoman Angela Cruz said police were still considering whether to press charges against other partygoers.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint motion for a continuance, which means Thursday’s court date could be postponed.

As of Tuesday afternoon, a District Court judge had not made a determination.

Rene Sandler, a private defense attorney representing the family, said she was still in the process of examining a large number of cellphone records obtained from the party attendees. tarnold@gazette.net

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Customers Scott Velasquez and Heather Henderson, both of Germantown, have a laugh as they sample their ice cream on free cone day Tuesday at the Ben and Jerry’s shop in Rockville Center. The store encouraged donations from customers to benefit the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation.

Patrons getting the scoop n

Rockville Ben and Jerry’s offers free ice cream, information about Sjogren’s syndrome

BY KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITER

An ice cream giveaway at Ben and Jerry’s on Tuesday had customers donating to the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation, a cause that has hit home for the Rockville store owners.

Bonnie and Marc Sosin own the Ben and Jerry’s at 199F E. Montgomery Ave. and are using the tasty treat to raise awareness and money for the foundation.

Their daughter, Paula Sosin, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease at 19.

Sjogren’s syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. Immunosuppressants can be used to alleviate its symptoms.

Today, as many as 4 million Americans are living with this disease, according to the foundation’s

website.

“Ever since Paula was diagnosed and after we went to our first national patient conference in 2009, we knew we wanted to make a difference,” Bonnie Sosin wrote in an email to The Gazette.

For the past four years, the Sosins have hosted free cone day at Ben and Jerry’s, with customers’ donations going to the foundation that is based in Bethesda. The cone day brings in about $1,200 each year and about 4,000 customers, according to Marc Sosin.

On Tuesday, ice cream lovers flooded the store around lunch time and more were expected later in the evening until 8 p.m. The most popular flavor of the day was chocolate chip cookie dough, Marc Sosin said.

“More important than even raising money is raising awareness of the disease,” he said.

Steve Taylor, CEO of the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation, helped greet customers at the event Tuesday.

“This is a very tricky disease to diagnose. The challenge for us is we are the most common unknown disease,” he said. kbrick@gazette.net

Montgomery County’s waste-to-energy plant in Dickerson has won a 2014 Clean Air Technology Award from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA recognized the facility, which is operated by Covanta Montgomery, for upgrading its systems to cut its nitrogen oxide emissions in half. Covanta developed the technology as a retrofit for existing facilities such as the one in Dickerson, according to a news release from the Morristown, N.J., company.

Nitrogen oxides contribute to the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere and smog.

The Dickerson plant was the first in the nation to use the Covanta system, starting in 2009.

The facility is owned by the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority.

Since it began operations in 1995, the plant, with a capacity of 52 megawatts, has generated 5.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, or enough to power Washington, D.C., for six months. In the process, it has saved landfill space equal to trash piled 1.4 miles high on a football field, according to Covanta.

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.

Sexual assault • On March 22 at 6 p.m. in the 3600 block of Littledale Road, Kensington. The subject is known to the victim.

Aggravated assault • On March 22 in the 8000 block of Cindy Lane, Bethesda. The subject is known to the victim.

Commercial burglary • On March 23 at 4:40 a.m. at Mobil Gas, 5054 River Road, Bethesda. Forced entry, took property.

• On March 23 at 5:18 a.m. at Exxon, 6100 MacArthur Blvd., Potomac. Forced entry, took property.

Residential burglary • 4200 block of East-West Highway, Chevy Chase, at 11:30 a.m. March 20. Attempted forced entry, took nothing.

Theft • On March 18 at 7 p.m. at a construction site in the 5400 block of Albia Road, Bethesda.

• On March 18 or 19 in the 11700 block of Parklawn Drive, Rockville. Took items from outside the residence.

Vehicle larceny • Walton Road and Melvern Drive, Bethesda, on March 20 or 21. Unlocked vehicles, took loose cash.

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Page A-5

Trachtenberg seeks return to County Council Former at-large member now running in District 1

n

BY

RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

This time around, Marie “Duchy” Trachtenberg is narrowing her focus.

When she served on the Montgomery County Council from 2006 to 2010, Trachtenberg was an at-large member, representing all residents of the county.

Now, as she seeks to return to the council, the North Bethesda resident is running in District 1 against incumbent Councilman Roger Berliner (D) of Bethesda in the June 24 Democratic primary.

Republican Jim Kirkland is also running for the seat in the

Nov. 4 general election. often, and to be clear about your Serving as an at-large mem- views on issues. ber often meant balancing comYou have to tell people peting interests among different what’s possible and what is not, groups around the she said. county, Trachtenberg She said she has a said. reputation for speakBut in representing frankly on issues, ing a district, at-large which people appremembers often look to ciate, even if it leads you to see what your to uncomfortable constituents’ needs conversations. are, she said.

In 2012, TrachtenDistrict 1 covberg sought the 6th ers a wide expanse of District congressiowestern Montgomery nal seat now held by Trachtenberg County, stretching from Rep. John Delaney, but Bethesda and Chevy Chase on dropped out of the race. the Washington, D.C., line down Trachtenberg had about to Potomac and up to Poolesville $122,000 in campaign money in and beyond.

January, and while she declined Trachtenberg said the key to say how much she plans to to representing such a diverse raise, she acknowledged that she district will be to get the various expects the District 1 race to be communities involved early and expensive.

With a campaign team that includes nationally known staff, such as strategist Joe Trippi and direct mail consultant Jim Crousne, Trachtenberg said she expects to have “more than adequate funds” to run the campaign they’ve designed.

She said her decision is “not at all” based on the chance to run against Berliner, but a response to all of the people who have asked her to run.

Trachtenberg said she will base her campaign around a record of accomplishment from her service on the council.

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During her term on the council, Trachtenberg was instrumental in helping open the county’s Family Justice Center to assist residents in domestic violence and other cases, as well as sponsoring a bill to ban serving trans fats in county restaurants.

Trachtenberg said she was probably best known on the council for her work on public health issues, as well as serving as a voice for the mentally ill and people with substance abuse problems or disabilities.

This time, she also expects to focus on creating solid eco-

nomic development in the county to create an economy that can sustain all families.

She also wants to address the growing needs of children in the county and do a better job of providing support services to children and their families.

She’d also like to work with different groups and communities to end divisive debate.

“There’s been an awful lot of polarization that has occurred,” Trachtenberg said. rmarshall@gazette.net

THE GAZETTE

Page A-6

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Bair hopes broad experience appeals to voters

BY TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER

For an attorney, getting to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court is like going to the Super Bowl. And Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Gary E. Bair has been there twice.

“That’s the highlight of your legal career,” said Bair, who worked as an attorney for more than 30 years before being appointed as a Circuit Judge in 2012.

On election day, Bair hopes his broad background in criminal law will be an effective sell-

ing point for voters — the ones who will determine whether or not he gets to keep his job as a judge in November.

For the first time in 10 years, the circuit judge race will be contested. Bair and the three other appointed circuit judges are running as a slate against challenger Daniel Patrick Connell, an attorney from Poolesville.

“You want the most highly qualified lawyers to be your judges,” Bair said. “People’s money and freedom are in your hands.”

Bair argued before Supreme Court justices in 2003, toward the end of his 21-year stint with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. At the time, he was solici-

tor general, head of the criminal appeals division.

The first case, which appeared before the court on March 24, 2003, involved a defendant who argued convincingly that his attorneys failed to adequately defend him because they didn’t mention his troubled childhood to the panel of jurors who sentenced him to death.

The second, on Nov. 3, 2003, was a search and seizure case involving a traffic stop that turned up cash and a large amount of cocaine. Three people in the vehicle were arrested, bringing about the legal question of whether police had probable cause to arrest any of them.

The Supreme Court justices unanimously determined that

there was probable cause for an arrest.

In 2004, Bair left the Maryland Attorney General’s Office for private practice. He joined the five-attorney firm as partner with Fred Warren Bennett, his courtroom adversary back in the early 1980s. Bair was working as an assistant public defender in Prince George’s County. Bennett was a prosecutor. Bair kept running the firm after Bennett’s death in 2007.

He said he was beginning to miss being in the public sphere.

“You don’t have the same broad impact,” Bair said.

In 2012, the retirement of Circuit Judge Thomas L. Craven gave him an opening. In Maryland, judges are appointed by the governor, though circuit

judges still have to stand in contested elections. Bair said he applied to be a nominee because he was seeking a new challenge and because he was getting older. Maryland judges are required to retire when they reach age 70. Bair was 61 at the time.

“If I want to do this,” Bair recalled thinking, “I’ve got to do this sooner than later.”

Bair grew up in Baltimore County and was a 1968 graduate of Woodlawn High School. He said he was the first in his family to go away to college. He earned an English degree from Tulane University in 1972 and graduated from Georgetown University law school in 1976. He clerked for Appeals Judge J. Dudley Digges.

Bair said that being a judge has enabled him to help others.

“It sounds like a cliche,” Bair said, “but it’s a humbling experience. It’s the people every day.

In court, you’re constantly reminded that people are entrusting you with their lives.”

“It’s the people every day. In court, you’re constantly reminded that people are entrusting you with their lives.”

Gary E. Bair Circuit Court judge

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Emilio “Milo” Naranjo, of Rockville, MD passed away on Thursday, April 3, 2014. Beloved husband of Evelyn “Evie” R. Naranjo. Father of Brian R. Naranjo, Russell E. Naranjo, Shevaun L. German, Robert D. Naranjo and Patricia “Patsy” T. Whittington.

Grandfather of Jason C. German, Jr., Marissa S. German, Miles Naranjo, Elle E. Whittington and Caroline Naranjo. Mr. Naranjo is also survived by his siblings, Benny Naranjo, Lorraine Lopez, Barney Naranjo, Susie Salazar, David Naranjo and Jeanette Salazar. Friends were received at PUMPHREY’S BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE FUNERAL HOME, 7557 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD on Sunday from 3 to 5 PM. Mass of Christian Burial was offered at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 4101 Norbeck Road, Rockville, MD on Monday, April 7 at 11AM. Interment private. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to NAMI Montgomery County, 11718 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD 20852 or to Sheppard & Enoch Pratt Hospital, 6501 N. Charles Street, P.O. Box 6815, Baltimore, MD 21285.

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THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Panel wants to contain project costs n

Council concerned about transit center, other construction

BY RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

Almost anyone who has ever had work done on his home knows that few projects come without some unexpected problems.

But in an effort to avoid expensive cost overruns — such as the ones at the Silver Spring Transit Center — the Montgomery County Council is looking at ways it can reduce the number of changes made to the facilities the county builds while they’re under construction.

The county builds projects such as libraries, police and fire stations, and recreation centers very well, but it tends to run into trouble when it tries to address unusual projects in the usual ways, said David Dise, director of the county’s Department of General Services.

“We do what we normally do very well,” Dise said Thursday at a meeting of the council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee.

The committee was discussing a report from the Office of Legislative Oversight on the effect of change orders — directives that require a contractor working on a project to change a portion of the work specified under the contract for the project — on county construction jobs.

The report included three recommendations for the council to take action on: • To ask that General Services develop a process to assess the risks of capital budget projects.

• To ask that General Services use different ways to manage the procurement and contracting process on projects that carry a high risk of expensive changes.

• To encourage General Services to continue to collect and monitor data on change orders on projects to try and identify trends and factors that increase the chance of cost increases and delays.

Change orders can be caused by a variety of factors, according to the legislative oversight report.

On one project, a construction contractor the county had worked with on other projects went out of business while it was working on a county project.

In another case, a previously reliable vendor provided the county with faulty building materials, while on another project the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission changed code requirements while a capital project was being built.

The transit center project in downtown Silver Spring wasn’t mentioned at the hearing, but the project has been crippled by delays and problems.

The county released information in November that the project had been subject to more than 400 proposed change orders, included approved orders worth $10.8 million.

The Department of General Services is already doing some of the steps recommended in the report, Dise said.

For instance, the department reviews project sites to try and identify potential problems with sites before a project starts.

Renovations and rehabilitations cause more of a problem in this area because crews aren’t able to test an area as much as they could with a site that doesn’t already have a building on it, Dise said.

Dise said the county does evaluate things such as the safety record, payment histories and the number of modifications that previous projects have needed when it’s looking for a company to work on a project.

They also talk with other people or jurisdictions who have worked with the company in the past, he said.

After about an hour of discussion, committee Chairwoman Nancy Navarro (D-Dist.

4) of Silver Spring said she would like the committee to have some more discussion on the issue before it makes a recommendation to the full council on action to help avoid the need for change orders on projects.

No date for a future meeting was set.

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THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Rupp is hoping voters return him to the bench Judge founded Adult Drug Treatment Court program in Montgomery County

n

BY

TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER

1910472

On Tuesdays, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Nelson W. Rupp Jr. takes off his “judge face,” steps out of the courtroom and enters the classroom to teach third-year law school students how to be trial lawyers.

On Thursday nights, he’s back in court for his other “second job” as presiding judge for Montgomery County Circuit Court’s Adult Drug Treatment Court Program, which he founded in 2004.

But come election day, the question of whether Rupp gets to keep his main job — one of Montgomery County’s 22 Circuit Court judges — will be left to voters.

For the first time in 10 years, sitting Circuit Court judges up for election will face a challenger. Poolesville lawyer Daniel Patrick Connell — the same person who sought judgeship a decade ago — has filed for candidacy for 2014.

Maryland’s primary election is June 24. The general election is Nov. 4.

Rupp, 64, is among the four sitting Circuit Court judges whose names will appear on the June primary ballot. The sitting judges are running as a team.

“We hope the people will have faith in the system that has appointed us to Circuit Court,” Rupp said.

In Maryland, Circuit Court judges are appointed by the governor from a pool of nominees

chosen by a 13-member committee. But after the appointment, Circuit Court judges have to run in the nearest election to their appointments in order to continue for a 15-year term.

Thereafter, the judges are up for election.

Appointees can be formally opposed by any qualified candidate.

To run as a Circuit Court judge, a candidate must be 30 years old and be a member of the state bar, in addition to meeting residency requirements, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Circuit Court is the local trial court that typically handles more serious cases. Rupp was appointed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) in 1997. Prior to that, he was appointed as a Montgomery County District Court judge by Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D) in 1993.

Rupp said he founded drug court in 2004 because there were defendants who were becoming known as “all-stars,” people with drug problems who kept appearing in the court system over and over again. Prior to drug court, judges didn’t have many options for offenders struggling with addictions, Rupp said.

“The traditional system doesn’t sufficiently address addicted offenders,” Rupp said.

The Montgomery County Circuit Court Adult Drug Court Program is a voluntary program that offers repeat offenders the chance to break the cycle of addiction and crime through intensive treatment and monitoring.

A team made up of case managers, judges, therapists and attorneys work together to direct the participant’s evaluation and treatment for a minimum of two years, though the length of the program depends on the participant’s progress.

Drug court sessions are held at night so that participants can keep a job, one of the requirements of the program.

“It’s about changing the whole person,” Rupp said. “It’s not just about staying clean.”

Since the program’s inception, 137 people have graduated from drug court. He became emotional when talking to The Gazette about some of the former graduates.

“Every one of these graduates has a story,” Rupp said.

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“The traditional system doesn’t sufficiently address addicted offenders.”

Nelson W. Rupp Jr. Circuit Court judge Outside the courtroom, Rupp deals with a different sort of aspiring graduates. He’s an adjunct professor for a civil and criminal practice at American University, where he’s taught since 1998.

“I don’t have on my judge face on in there,” Rupp said. “It helps to see the judge is a real person.”

At the time of his interview with The Gazette, his students were preparing for the final — a staged trial on April 6.

Rupp earned his law degree from AU’s Washington College of Law in 1974. He said he decided to go into law because he wanted to help people.

“The world of academics is one thing, but when you get out in the real world, it’s a whole other thing,” said Rupp.

The son of a dentist and a stay-at-home mother, Rupp graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1966. He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1974 and has served as an assistant state’s attorney and as a public defender in Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties, as well as working for private firms.

Becoming a judge, Rupp said, gave him another avenue for helping improve the human condition—something he hopes voters remembers when they head to the polls.

“I hope they look at my record, my history,” Rupp said. tarnold@gazette.net

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Poolesville lawyer challenges judges in Circuit Court race Connell, in his second try for the bench, critical of current selection process n

BY TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER

Growing up in a family of lawyers didn’t seal Daniel Patrick Connell’s fate as a steward of the law. For him, the “aha” moment arrived after serving with a reconnaissance unit during Operation Desert Storm.

“You know who you are and you know a little bit about life when you are in life or death situations,” Connell said. “And you watch your friends die.”

Connell, a 45-year-old lawyer from Poolesville, is back after serving as a U.S. Department of State senior rule of law adviser in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has returned with a new personal mission: to become a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge.

“I looked at who had challenged these judges while I had been serving in Iraq as the senior rule of law advisor for the U.S. government. Who has challenged [the judges] back home in my own county, this process that’s undemocratic?” Connell asked, rhetorically. “Election after election, no one.”

Connell was a last-minute entry in the upcoming race. Three sitting circuit judges — Gary E. Bair, Nelson W. Rupp Jr. and Joan E. Ryon — and a fourth who is about to take the circuit bench —

Audrey A. Creighton — are vying for four seats, along with one challenger, Connell.

Connell described himself as “the people’s candidate” — opposed to the election process for circuit judges.

“There is no good reason why judges should not be elected the same way we elect our legislators,” he said.

Under Maryland’s constitution, Circuit Court judges are appointed by the governor, based on nominees generated by a 13-person panel in each jurisdiction. The appointees run in the next election after the appointDaniel Connell ment and in elections thereafter. They can be formally opposed by any candidate who is at least 30 years old and a member of the state bar and who meets residency requirements.

The 13-person panel, known as the Judicial Nominating Commission, was created by executive order during the 1970s. Nine members are appointed by the governor and the other four are chosen by presidents of local bar associations.

Connell said the panel invites cronyism and isn’t transparent. “[It] is simply designed to obfuscate the fact that we’re all supposed to be considered on our merits and to keep the power — which that panel not only covets

but, for all intents and purposes, has already usurped — in our hands,” he said.

This will be the first contested Circuit Court race since 2004, when Connell ran for Circuit Court judge and lost, receiving about 11 percent of the vote.

Raised in Chevy Chase, Connell is a lifelong Montgomery County resident. His father, his brother and sister, an aunt and most of his cousins are lawyers.

Connell served in the Marine Corps from 1987 to 1993, when he was honorably discharged. He is a decorated Marine Corps veteran.

Connell obtained a degree in philosophy from the University of Maryland and a law degree from University of Denver in 1997.

Connell was a senior rule of law adviser for the U.S. Department of State in Basra, Iraq, in 2009 and 2010, and in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2012 and 2013.

His time overseas earned him two Expeditionary Service Awards from former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

If elected, Connell said, he would make impartiality and fairness priorities. He spoke of excessive bail and what he described as unfair sentencing.

“I’ve seen a young AfricanAmerican, 18 years old, get a year in jail for having half a joint of marijuana,” Connell said.

“That could have been President Obama, President Clinton. A year?

That judge does not empathize with that young man.”

Page A-9

Food drive underway Top: Mark Foraker (left), development director at Manna Food Center, receives donations Monday at the nonprofit’s Gaithersburg food warehouse from Montgomery County public information officers (from left) Anne Santora, Tom Pogue and Trish Jenkins. The delivery kicked off the county’s 27th annual Give and Ride program, in which donors of nonperishable food items can get a free Ride On bus ride this week.

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

They’re fixing a hole ...

(From left) Wayne Thomas, Robbie Holston and Emmanuel Baxter, all equipment operators for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, fill potholes with hot patch asphalt Friday on Brahms Avenue in Silver Spring. The work is part of the county’s two-week pothole “blitz” that started last week. After an unseasonably cold and snowy winter, the agency is devoting about 60 percent of its resources to filling potholes and replacing damaged road sections. Potholes can be reported to the MC311 Call Center at 311 or 240-777-0311.

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

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THE GAZETTE

Page A-10

CYCLING

Continued from Page A-1 the county Planning Department, said most people in the “interested but concerned” category are afraid of being hit by a car while biking. Most of them are comfortable riding their bikes, however, if they are in a bike lane that is buffered or separated from the vehicular road in

some way.

While many bike lanes are on the shoulder of the road, engineers also are designing lanes separated from the road by medians, barriers or parking spaces.

Pat Shepherd, the county Department of Transportation’s bikeways coordinator, said the county is looking for opportunities to build buffered bike lanes or separate cycle tracks, but it is also adding

bike lanes to the road shoulder and sidewalks wide enough for bikes and pedestrians.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association organized the conference, along with MoBike and Councilman Hans Riemer (D-At large) of Takoma Park, who said he hopes the conference will become an annual event.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Montgomery College takes aim at its achievement gap n

ewaibel@gazette.net

Task force recommends hiring more Latino and Hispanic faculty BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

PRE-K

Continued from Page A-1 said she thinks it will benefit the state that many different types of prekindergarten providers could receive the grant funds.

Bacquie said the school system will support the three child care programs it currently partners with, should they decide to apply for grant funds. The system is also open to working with other programs interested in applying for grant funds and seeking the school system’s endorsement, she said.

Bacquie said the county advisory council she co-chairs has determined through its studies that the county should place an emphasis on child care programs above other providers.

The affordabilty of child care is a major issue in the county, she said, and state dollars could help providers reach more families.

Compared with the school

system’s prekindergarten programs, community child care providers are sometimes able to provide longer hours and yearround services, she said.

Some families also prefer informal or family child care, she said.

The new law also expanded which families are eligible for prekindergarten services through programs that receive grant funds.

The state now requires public prekindergarten programs to provide services to families with income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Programs could use grant funds to expand their services to families whose income falls at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

Increasing the pool of eligible families brings up “mixed points,” Bacquie said.

More families facing financial hardship will have access to the services, she said, but the state might also be missing fam-

ilies at or below the 185 percent level who want the services.

Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist.

39) of Montgomery Village, a sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, said the grant program is purposefully flexible to allow for different programs to get the money they need to expand or start.

By way of a grant program, King said, the state can make sure the funds are going to the right, high-quality places and are not geographically lumped together.

The law allows private entities to add funds to the program, and King said she expects significant contributions from corporate sponsors to supplement state dollars.

The grant pool of $4.3 million is not enough, she said.

“It’s clearly not enough, but it’s at least a really good start in the program,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net

DANCERS

Continued from Page A-1 was part showcase of athletic dance skills, part beauty pageant.

While the women walked across the stage in bikinis and posed with footballs, audience members cheered for their favorite candidates. An announcer said what each contestant does when she is not cheering.

They came from different states and hold different jobs — federal employees, personal trainers, an eighthgrade science teacher, an auditor and CPA, and a bartender.

Some are former pageant winners. Some listed shoe collecting or walking their dogs as hobbies; some had master’s degrees or were planning to go to law school.

Stephanie Jojokian, director of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders, said the cheerleaders fall into a category known in the contemporary dance world as “working dancers,” holding down fulltime jobs while dancing part time.

“It’s not like New York, maybe, or L.A. where ... that’s what they do for a living,” she said. “We all have jobs,

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Fans cheer for their favorite candidates at the final auditions for Redskins cheerleaders at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club on Sunday. Sixty women tried out for the NFL team’s squad. careers, and this allows us to still pursue our passion for dance.”

Jojokian, an NBA cheerleader before coming to the Redskins, said the cheerleaders are paid by the hour for attending practices Tuesday and Thursdayevenings,gamedays,and some publicity appearances. The schedule leaves time for work and volunteering while pursuing their passion for dance and their love of football.

“We have women who are role models in the community; they

have careers too,” Jojokian said.

The judges selected 36 cheerleaders and two alternates at the final. Jojokian said 14 are rookies, while the rest had cheered previously and were auditioning for another year on the team.

The new team of Redskins cheerleaders will fly to Mexico to shoot the annual cheerleaders swimsuit calendar before returning to Washington, D.C., to root for the football team in its 2014 season. ewaibel@gazette.net

Following a fresh look at performance gaps among its student groups — in graduation rates, transfer rates, individual courses and elsewhere — Montgomery College is making a new, school-wide push to close them.

The college’s efforts are based on a range of recommendations from the Closing the Achievement Gap Task Force comprised of college, community and county school system representatives. Task force members met for about nine months to develop a report that was presented to the Montgomery College Board of Trustees on March 24.

Beverly Walker-Griffea, the college’s senior vice president for student services, said the college plans to phase in and fully implement the task force’s recommendations by 2020.

Tony D. Hawkins — instructional dean of arts, humanities and social science at the college’s Takoma Park/ Silver Spring campus and a co-chairman of the task force — said the college has looked at students’ academic achievement for years but the task force’s work and report was a unique effort to examine the information with the intent to close performance gaps.

“I don’t think we’ve really looked at the data quite this way,” Hawkins said.

Among other recommendations in the report to address the gaps, the task force calls for increased mentoring services, new factors to predict student success and a greater insistence when it comes to matching students with opportunities.

At Montgomery College, African-American and Hispanic and Latino students are generally falling behind their white and Asian peers in several areas of academic achievement.

According to the report, the college’s African-American and Hispanic and Latino students graduate in three years less often and transfer

PARK

Continued from Page A-1 the Montgomery Parks web-

Professional Services

to a four-year school less often than white and Asian students.

Among its fall 2009 cohort, about 11 percent of African-American students and about 15 percent of Hispanic and Latino students graduated within three years compared to about 20 percent of Asian students and about 19 percent of white students, the report said.

About 22 percent of African-American students and about 17 percent of Hispanic and Latino students transferred to a four-year school within three years compared to about 30 percent of Asian students and about 28 percent of white students.

Students are also arriving at the college unprepared.

In the college’s 2008 cohort, about 85 percent of Hispanic students and about 80.5 percent of AfricanAmerican students were not “college ready” and therefore needed to take developmental courses, according to the report.

Hawkins said he thinks the “most exciting” task force recommendations include those aimed at coordinating efforts across the college’s three campuses and expanding the work done in “small pockets of the college.”

Hilda Decena Smith, a Montgomery College professor and the task force’s other co-chairwoman — said the college wants to help students access supports that already exist.

“It’s trying to create a sense of community so that they can find the people, the resources that can help them achieve whatever their goal is,” she said.

One recommended measure will institute mentoring more widely across the college’s three campuses, though not as one collegewide program, Hawkins said.

“Each of the campuses may have different niches and requirements and student populations,” he said.

Smith said existing programs — including one for African-American male students — has helped boost students’ GPAs, graduation and transfer rates and sense of involvement.

The report also calls for a more “intrusive” approach to working with students.

Hawkins said this ap-

proach involves college staff actively pushing students to take advantage of good opportunities they might otherwise not respond to.

“We’re really putting it in front of them and making it almost unavoidable for them to get around it,” he said.

Smith said the approach also requires involvement from a range of staff — counselors, advisors and others who interact with students.

Following another recommendation, the college is also planning to take a new approach when it comes to predicting how a student will perform at the college.

Rather than exclusively looking at what a student does and does not know, staff would also take into account “non-cognitive” factors such as leadership, communication and resourcefulness, Hawkins said.

The task force also recommended the college hire more Hispanic and Latino faculty members.

“It’s important for students to see people that look like them in the classroom and throughout the institution,” Smith said.

Hawkins said more Hispanic and Latino administrators, faculty and staff would also mean more individuals who can share voices from the different ethnic communities in the college.

While the college is now focusing on how to implement the measures, some efforts are already in place, Walker-Griffea said, such as the intrusive advising approach with students. Another example is the college’s continued work in the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success program that helps county high school students prepare for and get into college, she said.

Hawkins said the college aims to start workshops this spring covering a variety of a topics to share the task force’s findings with college staff.

Walker-Griffea said the college’s work to improve the performance of certain student groups will translate to a larger impact.

“This will help all students,” she said.

site. If the board approves the plan, designs could be finalized and construction could take place during the 2017 through 2022 Capital Improvements Program planning period.

More information on plans for the park is available at montgomeryparks.org/ pdd/cip/caroline_freeland_ park.shtm.

lpowers@gazette.net

ewaibel@gazette.net

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Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

BUSINESS

Legislature passes minimum wage hike Phased-in raises will reach $10.10 by 2018

n

BY

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

ANNAPOLIS — Minimum wage workers across Maryland will be getting a raise.

After 90 days of dickering, lawmakers voted Monday — the last day of the General Assembly session — to raise the statewide minimum wage gradually to $10.10 per hour.

For Gov. Martin J. O’Malley, the vote is checkmark in the victory column. O’Malley identified raising the wage his top legislative priority this session.

“This year, we are building on this record of strengthening the middle class by raising Mary-

land’s minimum wage to $10.10,” O’Malley (D) said in a statement commending the General Assembly for the action.

While the legislature held firm at raising the wage to O’Malley’s target of $10.10 per hour, lawmakers stretched implementation by two extra years, reaching $10.10 per hour by July 2018.

Maryland last raised its minimum wage in 2006.

In January, the first raise takes effect, increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8 an hour.

Conservative lawmakers fought unsuccessfully to keep the wage at the current $7.25 per hour, predicting it would cost the state jobs and make the state even more unfriendly to business.

“And it won’t just cost jobs, it will increase the cost of goods and

services,” House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Dist. 31) of Pasadena said.

Eighteen House and 27 Senate amendments were proposed throughout the session to change the bill. Only five were adopted.

Montgomery County’s local minimum wage will remain intact under the state bill, despite calls to pre-empt local wage legislation.

Montgomery County’s minimum wage will exceed the state’s, reaching $11.50 by 2017.

But enforcing the counties’ higher local wages will fall to the state, thanks to a bill by Del. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Dist. 19) of Derwood.

The Senate passed Kramer’s bill Monday.

Sen. Brian J. Feldman said Sen. Allan H. Kittleman (R-Dist. 9) of

WestFriendshipproposedrequiring counties with a differing local minimum wage to reimburse the state for the cost of enforcing the wage.

Kittleman’s amendment ultimately failed.

Like any other jurisdiction, Montgomery County residents will pay the taxes that cover the supplemental appropriation included by the state for enforcing the minimum wage, Feldman (DDist. 15) of Potomac said.

County Council President Craig L. Rice (D-Dist 2) of Germantown, who came down for the last day of session, agreed with Feldman that enforcing the wage was best left to the state.

The bill is headed to O’Malley for what is expected to be a speedy signature into law. kalexander@gazette.net

Deal approved to allow more in film tax credits Will it be enough to keep ‘House of Cards’ filming in Maryland? Stay tuned

n

BY

KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER

Following a series of last-minute political twists reminiscent of a “House of Cards” episode, Maryland will provide $15 million in fiscal 2015 tax credits for film productions such as the Netflix political thriller.

A bill that would have allowed $3.5 million more in credits died late Monday at the close of the General Assembly’s regular session.

A six-member conference committee debated until the final bell on the bill that would have provided a total of $18.5 million in credits.

Some House of Delegates members wanted to insert a provision that would rescind the credits if a production moved

from Maryland, while senators objected to that clause. The session’s deadline came without a compromise.

A “House of Cards” executive threatened in a recent letter to state officials to not film the third season in Maryland if the production did not receive more in credits. Investors in the first season received $11.7 million in state tax credits and were projected to receive $15 million in tax credits for the second season, according to state figures.

Whether the $15 million for next fiscal year — funds that all productions filming in the state are eligible to share — will be enough to keep “House of Cards” filming in Maryland was not known Tuesday by state officials.

“We are hopeful ‘House of Cards’willcontinuetofilminMaryland, but that is a decision that [Media Rights Capital] has to make,” Karen Glenn Hood, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Depart-

ment of Business and Economic Development, which oversees the credit program, said Tuesday.

Megan Duzi, a spokeswoman for Media Rights Capital, the Beverly Hills, Calif., production company of “House of Cards,” said Tuesday that company officials have no comment “at this time.”

Producers delayed filming its third season until June to find out the results of the film tax credit debate. A construction coordinator working on “House of Cards” told a Maryland House committee several weeks ago that he understood the production is reviewing Pittsburgh, Chicago and Toronto, among other areas, to film.

The first season of “House of Cards” completed 139 days of filming, mostly in Baltimore, Annapolis and Harford County, in 2012, and employees made purchases of goods and services at more than 1,800 Maryland businesses for an economic impact of $138 million, according to a

DBED report.

The economic impact of the second season is projected to be about $120.6 million, with a similar amount for the third season if it is filmed in Maryland.

Some $7.5 million in the fiscal 2015 tax credits will come from the general fund. Another $5 million is from “Sunny Day” funds and $2.5 million from a cultural arts special fund.

Dipping into the arts fund is “very disappointing,” said John Schratwieser, executive director of the advocacy group Maryland Citizens for the Arts.

“It’s not something we expected,” Schratwieser said. “This is a fund that has the potential to do a lot of good. It’s focused on helping local arts groups strengthen their organization through capacity building and fiscal training for better accounting practices.” kshay@gazette.net

Page A-11

BizBriefs

Have a new business in Montgomery County?

Let us know about it at www.gazette.net/newbusinessform

To Peace Clothing helps charities To Peace Clothing is appealing to women’s senses of both fashion and charity.

The online Rockville retailer says it sells trendy, affordable women’s clothing — and a percentage of sales is donated to a charity that the customer selects at checkout.

The venture is the brainchild of Amy Spencer, who said she wanted to put her love of clothing toward a cause.

Its website is topeaceclothing.com and its phone number is 888-475-0110.

Company offers concierge services Need help with errands, transportation or other services?

Muse-Concierge of Washington Grove offers concierge services, such as property caretaking, errands, food services, transportation services and elder care. The company provides services in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. It can be reached from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily at 301337-0988; its website is muse-concierge.com.

New website creates photo memorabilia A father-and-son team has launched a new startup, Biosaic, which creates interactive photo mosaics designed for live events.

Headquartered in Rockville, Biosaic is a website that can create photomosaics from images. Yoni and Mark Lautman envision people using their site to create memorabilia for special events, including weddings, concerts and overseas trips.

One image is chosen that best defines the mood of an event. Other images and their captions are added to build that image on the Biosaic website.

Biosaic also plans to help candidates with their political campaigns.

“Candidates are always looking for ways to best engage with their supporters,” Yoni Lautman said in a release. “Using Biosaic, candidates can increase their popularity and enthusiasm of their supporters by getting them to be a part of their leader’s Biosaic.”

Biosaic is in live beta and its URL is www.biosaic.com.

National 4-H Council names Head CIO The National 4-H Council named Mitch Head its new chief information officer.

Previously, Head was director of technology strategy and innovation at AARP and technical director of international business technologies at AOL. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from James Madison University.

136575G

THE GAZETTE

Page A-12

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

SCHOOL LIFE Middle school students become Best Buddies

EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Rockville High School PTSA honors parents

Andrew and DJ are more than Buddies: They’re friends n

BY

Carole Marks and Becky Hubbard were named Parents of the Year 2014 by the Rockville High School Parent-TeacherStudent Association. Holly Shropshire, Scott Smith and Konni Brantner received honor-

PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER

Andrew Resnick and DJ Orino see each other every day at Tilden Middle School in Rockville, go to movies together and listen to music, especially The Beatles, DJ’s favorite group.

Their two-year friendship has a special component. They are Best Buddies, members of an organization that matches students with and without developmental disabilities in a friendship program.

This year, the eighth-graders also are the 2014 Best Buddies Maryland Friendship Walk’s Honorary Buddy Pair and will cut the ribbon at the annual fundraiser May 3 at the University of Maryland. It’s an honor they earned by embodying what Best Buddies is all about, said Vince Fiduccia, the state director of Best Buddies Maryland.

“They are a great example of our mission to develop friendships between two students — one with a disability and one without,” Fiduccia said.

Accolades aside, both boys say their friendship is real and they love spending time together.

“DJ has definitely been a great Buddy.

He makes me happy. He makes me laugh,” Andrew said.

The boys sometimes communicate with hand gestures, doing fist bumps or high fives to acknowledge each other at school.

“DJ just lights up and smiles every time he sees Andrew,” Leah Arbeter, a special education teacher and Best Buddies sponsor at Tilden, said in an email. “DJ refers to Andrew by saying ‘my friend.’ They are just that — friends.”

There are 23 students in Learning for Independence program at Tilden and 22 of them participate in Best Buddies, an optional program, Arbeter said.

More than 60 regular education students join them for monthly after-school chapter meetings, she said.

“That includes associate members who come to help the peer buddies,” Arbeter said.

At those meetings, students play games, make craft projects and do “getting to know you” activities.

Last month, Arbeter cut letters from newspapers and magazines. The Buddies had find the right letters to spell their names on friendship posters that included

able mention.

The award celebrates volunteerism by parents, grandparents or guardians of current Rockville High students.

Marks was recognized for her contribution through the Booster Club as vice president and lead person for the snack bar. Hubbard has been involved in a number of parent organizations, but was recognized for her contributions to the After Prom Party Committee.

Shropshire has been active in the Booster Club, the PTSA, the Pipe Band Parents and, as president, Friends of Rockville Music.

Smith is a Booster Club leader and also organizes and runs the annual mulch sale, the school’s biggest fundraiser.

Branter has been PTSA vice president for membership for the past two years and, this year, added the responsibilities of co-chairwoman of the school’s after-school café.

The five will be honored at the PTSA’s meeting April 22 at the school.

PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE

Best Buddies Andrew Resnick (left) and DJ Orino, eighth-graders at Tilden Middle School in Rockville, were named 2014 Best Buddies Maryland Friendship Walk’s Honorary Buddy Pair. They will cut the ribbon to start the annual fundraiser May 3 at the University of Maryland, College Park. their photographs.

“The middle school program is a yearlong program,” Fiduccia said. “We ask that [Buddies] see each other twice a month and make one phone call or email per week.”

There are 20 chapters of Best Buddies in Montgomery County middle and high schools and 90 in Maryland, serving more than 4,100 students and adults statewide, he said.

The Best Buddies Walk is a fundraiser for the friendship programs.

Best Buddies does not require the extra time and effort Andrew and many others put in, he said. Last year, Andrew made Best Buddies his Bar Mitzvah project, rais-

Whitman again tops in fundraising challenge

ing almost $3,000 for the organization.

“I really like [working with people with disabilities],” Andrew said. “If I can pursue it as a career, I will.”

He also volunteers with the Montgomery Cheetahs, an ice hockey team for people with disabilities.

Andrew said he has learned a lot from his friendship with DJ. It is not a one-way street.

“I think I’ve learned more about myself,” he said. “I’m more responsible, organized and patient. With DJ, I need to plan ahead.”

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s High School Challenge, a fundraising competition, netted more than $150,000 in the region.

Student teams from 14 Washington-area high schools were encouraged to develop leadership and fundraising skills in support of the nonprofit’s mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

The competition is usu-

pmcewan@gazette.net

OVERCROWDED SCHOOLS Cedar Grove Elementary School

ally limited to February, but because of snow days it was extended to March 19.

For the second year in a row, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda received top honors, bringing in $68,158. Not far behind was Walter Johnson High School of Bethesda, returning as the 2014 runner-up with $52,000.

Whitman students will be rewarded for their work next month with a pep rally with a master of ceremonies from Hot 99.5 radio.

Marcela Falck-Bados, Whitman’s Pennies for Patients student leader, attributes the school’s success this year to its increased commitment to the mission as a community and keeping its focus on the big picture: making a difference in the lives of blood cancer patients.

“We are very proud to have raised such a large amount of money,” Falck-Bados said in a news release. “Our goal this year was to make LLS Month more about blood cancer awareness, rather than just fundraising and competing against other schools. Despite the several snow days and interruptions, the Whitman community has been very flexible and willing to help a cause that is very close to the Whitman community.”

BlackRock Center offers spring break camp BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown will offer Spring Break Camp: Musical Mayhem from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Monday through April 17.

Students ages 5-12 can participate in themed workshops, improvisational games, art projects, dance and puppet shows. Each age group will create a musical and perform it on the final day on BlackRock’s main stage.

The cost is $285. The center is at 12901 Town Commons Drive. For more information call 301-528-2260 or visit blackrockcenter.org.

GERMANTOWN

n Each week, The Gazette will feature a county school by the numbers, giving a glimpse at how local schools are dealing with overcrowded conditions.

Number of students:

730

Current student capacity:

Percent over capacity:

Number of students overcapacity:

422 308 73 25.5 24.7 28.9

Number of school’s portable classrooms:

(Kindergarten through 5th grade)

School’s average class size:

MCPS average class size:

Kindergarten

PRINCIPAL’S

TAKE

Grades 1 to 3

Grades 4 and 5

Total MCPS portable classrooms:

7 338 19.6 20.7

Kindergarten

Grades 1 to 3

Student/ instructional staff ratio:

19 24

Grades 4 and 5

MCPS average elementary school student/ instructional staff ratio:

11

1960 Year school was built 1987 Year of last renovation/modernization

Cedar Grove Principal Lee Derby said the extra students meant the school needed to convert five rooms, such as the staff lounge, into general classrooms at the beginning of the school year. “The kids don’t have a problem with it at all,” he said. “They don’t even notice.” The school also received three portable classrooms in October, he said, which allowed the school to use some of the converted classrooms for other uses again. Cedar Grove’s staff also grew by six new positions this school year, Derby said. Arrival and dismissal of students can also be “a little bit hectic,” he said, but the students are well-behaved and follow the rules. The school has also held events at the nearby middle school rather than at Cedar Grove, which Derby said has not impacted “attendance or enjoyment.”

DATA FOR 2013-14 SCHOOL YEAR SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Page A-13

Weed Warriors

HEALTH CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9 Diabetes Management, from 1-2 p.m. at Friendship Heights Community Center, 4433 South Park Ave., Chevy Chase. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are approximately 24 million people with diabetes and 57 million people with pre-diabetes in the US. Leni Barry, HeartWell nurse at Suburban Hospital, will discuss practical diabetes management skills and educational resources available for those living with this chronic disease.

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TACKLING INVASIVE SPECIES

n

Non-native plants have damaging effects on local ecosystems BY

SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER

Carole Bergmann is waging war on garlic mustard.

The edible greens may look harmless, but are “carpeting the ground floor in the woods,” she said, and are pushing out native plants.

On a recent weekend, she organized volunteers to pull up 11,000 pounds of the short bunches of shoots and fanned leaves that smell like garlic when crushed. They may be good in salad, but they’re wreaking havoc on local ecosystems — all the more reason to yank them and toss them in with some arugula and olive oil.

Fifteen years ago, Bergmann, a forest ecologist for Montgomery Parks, created the Weed Warriors Program to tackle the rising problem of non-native invasive species.

Garlic mustard is one of dozens of non-natives on her list threatening the survival of native plants and the health of local ecosystems.

Through the program, she has trained more than 1,000 residents to identify and remove invasive plants from their backyards and park land.

Increased development in recent decades has opened the door for these species. Many are sold at nurseries, where unsuspecting gardeners buy them to plant in their yards.

When Bergmann initiated the program, the idea of nonnative species damaging ecosystems was novel. Today, she said, it’s still about explaining to people the domino effect that one struggling species can have on surrounding plants, insects and animals that rely on, or prey on, one another.

On April 1, Bergmann and Volunteer Coordinator Megan Fellows trained about a dozen parks staff who maintain parks in the area around North Chevy Chase Park, where they met, on how to remove invasive plants.

They demonstrated how to kill English ivy by cutting through the vine near the base.

Ivy covered the tall, old trees in the park, enveloping them in a thick layer of green leaves. During storms, ice and snow clinging to vines weigh down and weaken trees, Bergmann said.

The ivy probably escaped at some point from someone’s yard, but once it climbs a tree, the plant matures, produces seeds and spreads.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 11 AARP Driver Safety Class at MedStar Montgomery, from 10

a.m. to 3 p.m. at Montgomery Medical Center, 18101 Prince Philip Drive, Olney. The AARP Driver Safety Program, 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. $15 for AARP members, $20 for nonmembers. www.medstarhealth. org.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15 Pilates for Seniors, 11:15 a.m. to noon, Tuesdays to May 20, at Bethesda Regional Service Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Second Floor, Bethesda. Pilates for Seniors will incorporate gentle movements to help strengthen the core, lengthen the spine, and build muscle tone while improving posture and increasing flexibility. Bring a mat and dress comfortably. Taught by a certified instructor. $60. www. suburbanhospital.org.

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 Tummy Troubles, from 1:152:15 p.m. at the Holiday Park Community Center, 3950 Ferrara Drive, Wheaton. What causes indigestion, constipation and acid reflux? Are these common problems related to the food we eat? There are so many over-the counter medications advertised, how do you know what, if anything, to take for discomfort? A gastroenterologist will answer these questions and much more during this informative lecture. Free. www.suburbanhospital.org.

RELIGION CALENDAR UPCOMING Concord-St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, 5910 Goldsboro

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Carole Bergmann, a forest ecologist for Montgomery Parks (in white hat), gives park maintenance workers a crash course in invasive plants and how to identify and remove them from parkland. Behind the group are tree trunks covered with non-native English ivy, one of the invasives that Bergmann is asking the maintenance workers to remove. what we have here (in invasives) was brought here on purpose,” Bergmann said. Often they are brought in for ornamental use, like English ivy, or because they’re edible, like garlic mustard.

Non-native invasives take root and spread rapidly, pushing out native plants by hogging space and resources, or jeopardizing other environmental elements that plants depend on, such as certain soil fungi.

Ecologists aren’t sure of all of the ways invasives interfere with their non-native environments; Bergmann said she doesn’t have time to wait for the research to come out or the resources to hire people to remove them.

Instead, she trains park staff and residents, who normally would not be allowed to add or remove plants from park property. After about five hours of training — an online course, a classroom course and field training — certified Weed Warriors seek out harmful plants and remove them on their own.

Sarah Morse of Chevy Chase starting cutting invasive vines around her neighborhood 12 years ago. Ten years ago, she became a Weed Warrior and is now a Weed Warrior supervisor, allowed to oversee

untrained volunteers. She organizes workdays about once a week, and had 35 volunteers come out on Sunday.

She admits to being a little bit addicted to freeing trees of their vines.

During the past 15 years, volunteers have logged enough hours to equal 31 years of full-time work. That’s at least $600,000 worth of donated work, or as much as $1.4 million, depending on the estimate.

Including special work days that the Weed Warriors host, more than 7,000 people have chipped in on the removal efforts in the county.

About once a month, Bergmann trains more volunteers to tackle the weeds, which now are a worse problem than when the program started.

“Invasives love edges,” Bergmann said. Development creates edges in natural areas, disturbing habitat.

About 10 percent of Montgomery County is preserved in 410 parks, she said.

“We used to have many more undisturbed fields, forests,” she said. Having more edges is like having more surface area for new plants to infiltrate. And many invasives go to seed quickly, so by the time

their native counterparts reproduce, an invasive plant already has beat them to whatever fertile spot of soil is nearby.

There goes the domino effect.

For example, garlic mustard, now prolific on the forest floor, blooms at the same time as toothwort, a native plant with white flowers similar to those of garlic mustard, Bergmann explained.

When the endangered West Virginia White butterfly looks to lay eggs on toothwarts, it often lands among garlic mustard, which is toxic to the butterfly eggs.

From April 19 to May 3, the Weed Warriors have declared “15 Days of Garlic Mustard,” during which they’ll ramp up removal.

“We have retired botanists and we have people who jog through the parks and see all these vines and have no idea what they are, but they know it’s not right,” Bergmann said.

“Twenty years ago, a lot of people really didn’t get it,” she said. But that’s starting to change. “A lot of people care very much about their backyard and park. It’s their place.

It’s their little piece of heaven.” sscully@gazette.net

Road, Bethesda, will present a special Lenten Sermon Series to April 13 (Palm Sunday) based on Adam Hamilton’s book, “24 Hours That Changed the World.” Based on the author’s travels in the Holy Land and other sources, the book helps readers experience the final day of Jesus’ life and understand it’s significance. Sunday service starts at 10 a.m. www.csachurch.com.

Neelsville Presbyterian Church, 20701 Frederick Road, Germantown, will host Palm Sunday services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. April 13; Maundy Thursday worship with communion at 7:30 p.m. April 17; Good Friday Tenebrae Service at 7:30 p.m. April 18; Easter Services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. April 20, brunch between services. All are welcome, babysitting provided.

301-972-3916, www.neelsville.org.

Shirat HaNefesh (Song of the Soul), an independent and inclu-

sive Jewish community, will host a First Night Passover Seder at 6:15 p.m. April 14 at the North Chevy Chase Christian Church, Harlow Hall, 8814 Kensington Parkway, Chevy Chase. The song-filled, uplifting community Seder will use the compact edition of “A Different Night” as its Haggadah. A kosher meal (with vegetarian options) will be served. All are welcome. $30, free for children younger than 12.

Har Tzeon - Agudath Achim, 1840 University Blvd West, Silver Spring, will host its Second Night Family Seder from 7-10 p.m. April 15. Lead a part of the seder and share stories and words of Torah.

A staff of waiters will serve a festive meal. $36 for adults, $26 for children 6-12, free for children 5 and younger. 301-649-3800.

Hughes United Methodist Church, 10700 Georgia Avenue,

Wheaton, will host the following Easter services. “Perspectives,” an original drama chronicling the hours following the Crucifixion of Jesus,

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7:30 p.m. Maundy Thursday, April 17; The Chancel Choir, Paul Basler’s “Missa Kenya,” 7:30 p.m. April 18, 301-949-8383, hughesumc.org.

The Shiloh Baptist Church of Landover, 8801 Ardwick Ardmore

Road, Landover, will present the full stage play, “It Is Finished,” at 7 p.m. Friday, April 18. Admission is free. www.shilohbc.org.

ONGOING Agape African Methodist Episcopal Church, 7700 Brink 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. 301924-8640; 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 Boulevard, 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 offered 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.

Kemptown United Methodist Church, 3716 Kemptown Church

Road, Monrovia, conducts a contemporary service at 8 a.m. followed by a traditional service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday mornings, with children’s Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. and adult Sunday school at 11 a.m. For more information, call 301-253-1768. Visit www.kemptownumc.org.

The Gazette OUROPINIONS

Forum

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

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The urgency of action

When he was still a U.S. senator, President Barack Obama published “The Audacity of Hope.” The book described a number of issues — inadequate health care, energy, poverty, climage change — that burdened Americans struggling to make better lives for themselves and their families.

“Audacity” helped to cement his bona fides as a legitimate presidential contender, and it also helped to fix “hope” as a political buzzword of the day. It’s hard to use the word in a public arena without evoking Obama’s book.

So as schools Superintendent Joshua Starr served as the keynote speaker at Interfaith Works’ Companies Caring Breakfast two weeks ago, we suppose he meant to bring Obama to the minds of anyone who listened to his speech. Here are two quotes from Starr’s speech: • “Persistent achievement gaps call out to us with urgency and we must respond with urgency, the urgency of hope.”

• “A child who believes that she has a bright future in front of her will have one if she has hope.”

He called the room full of business, government and nonprofit leaders “travel agents of hope.”

Obama’s book tried to rekindle American optimism.

For many American families, hope could be a luxury lost to the tide of hardships. Hope can fuel families as they rebuild need by need.

Hope, however, seems misplaced in a discussion on the achievement gap in Montgomery County Public Schools. On the one hand, Starr is right; every child needs hope. And, yes, we need to erase the persistent gaps that separate the test scores of white and Asian students, and their black and Hispanic peers.

But hope won’t narrow the gap. That needs the urgent work of dedicated, tenacious educators — “the travel agents of action.” Smothering the issue with the trappings of Obama’s hope shifts attention away from what must be done.

Survey says...

What makes you satisfied at your job is usually an answer with many parts. Likely answers include job security, earning a fair pay and having the correct tools to do your work.

It’s fair to say that teachers likely would feel more effective if they had things like school buildings that were sized correctly for the student population, equal access in all schools to technology, and a system of monitoring the successes they felt were reflective of their efforts.

They don’t need their employer to pay a national survey company nearly $1 million to tell them that.

Montgomery County Public Schools launched a partnership with Gallup in 2012 to measure employee and student engagement and to use the results to help guide the school system’s improvement efforts. It is a $300,000-a-year, three-year contract to measure hope, well-being and engagement of students and staff.

Employees who enjoy coming to work bring an energy that has a ripple effect on students and on creating a culture where innovation and creativity thrive, according to the Gallup survey website.

Employee engagement also was measured by a survey developed jointly by Gallup and MCPS. An employee’s level of engagement has links to various school outcomes, including employee retention, parent engagement, student retention, and student achievement, according to the site.

No argument there. The objectives are in the right place, but perhaps the money spent hearing the obvious needs of teachers could be better spent in meeting those needs.

A parallel survey was given to students in grades 5 through 12 that measures hope, engagement and wellbeing — actionable targets linked to student achievement, retention and future employment.

While the student version of the Gallup survey was free, it seems that asking teens or preteens on one snapshot day how they feel may not be totally accurate.

Many parents would agree that, especially during these years, a Vine video, a tweet or a text could alter their mood. So, if they’re asked survey questions such as “Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?” or “My teachers make me feel my schoolwork is important,” it’s less reflective of their overall sentiment about school and more about their current mindset.

It’s true that $900,000 won’t solve all of the school system’s needs. But it might give students and staff the hope that the school leaders are finding every dollar to put toward their well being.

The Gazette Karen Acton, President/Publisher

LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR

Metro project needs changes The April 2 article on the WMATA Board vote for the Takoma Metro development proposal [“Takoma Metro development moves forward”] only quotes supporters, while including just a few references to concerns of “neighbors.” However, the proposal is controversial because it’s incompatible with the community.

I support development at the site, but we need changes before the project advances.

The article glosses over local concerns, while quoting EYA (the developer), and Cheryl Cort (with the Coalition for Smarter Growth). EYA is a donor to the Coalition’s business council, a connection omitted in Cort’s Board testimony and the article.

I live in Maryland near the site, as noted

in my testimony. It’s unclear why the EYA link and developer connections of some supporters who testified were not in their testimonies or the article. Here’s what was also left out: First, a board member stated they had to vote yes because they can’t address design issues. But EYA modified its earlier design at WMATA’s request. The Board could have postponed the vote pending further changes.

Second, the building would be 72 feet high, adjacent to single-family homes and small apartments. Why not move higher parts closer to the rail line?

Third, the WMATA traffic study ignores other area construction, and downplays current traffic problems around the site, and the impact of adding parking for building resi-

dents while cutting public parking.

Fourth, we haven’t had true community engagement, with EYA holding one public meeting since last summer.

Fifth, the plan breaches DC zoning rules and the Takoma Master Plan, leading Takoma Park and the Washington ANC to adopt resolutions supporting a more compatible design.

Marylanders will have little say on the design, because we aren’t in the D.C. zoning process. For the real story, look at these websites: http://www.takomametro.com/; http://dc-mdneighborsfortakomatransit. org/. Let’s have community engagement, and a balanced project.

Peter Kovar, Takoma Park

Just say ‘no’ to fracking Kudos to Justin W. Chappell, a Maryland House of Delegates candidate. In his letter to The Gazette [“Maryland needs to ban fracking”], he has demonstrated the political courage to stand up for a ban on fracking in Maryland.

This will not win him any corporate votes. One can only hope that his position will win, not only the votes of environmentalists, but also the votes of every concerned citizen who wants to see an end to the rape of our land.

I am all too familiar with this problem for I have inherited the mineral rights to a plot in Pennsylvania which lies in the midst of widespread hydraulic fracking.

I have been notified that as soon as I sign a lease allowing drilling rights to a mining company I will receive a nice monthly check for my share of the profits. Too good to be true? You bet!

It has taken very little time and research for me to discover that in the process of fracking, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected underground at high enough pressure to fracture the rock and enter the earth below the aquifer and around the oil or gas well. Voila! A new energy source.

Green jobs can be costly

But, by the way, some of the hundreds of chemicals used are known carcinogens. That water can never be used again. It will be toxic for generations.

Where will it go?

The sand used by frackers is composed of very fine particles, which are heaped in piles around the fracking sites. When the wind blows the fine particles fly into everything, including lungs. The surrounding rural areas and habitat are trashed into what has now become an industrial area.

I can certainly understand the lure that fracking presents to the big corporations. There is a lot of money to be had. Everyone wants a piece. Even me. But, after a lot of soul searching and looking for a loophole, I realize that there is a price to be paid for the use of a loophole. So I am refusing to lease my mineral rights.

There are others in Maryland who also hold mineral rights. It is my hope that they, too, will consider refusing to lease their rights. Together, we could make a difference.

House of Delegates candidate Justin Chappell’s letter in the March 26, 2014, issue recommends a ban on fracking and the exporting of natural gas and supports “green jobs.” The first two of these recommendations will directly cost the state jobs. The green jobs, unfortunately may also cost jobs but indirectly.

The cause of this job loss is that resources are wasted, energy prices increased and better investments are crowded out. The Spanish Government had a massive 11-year program to create green jobs and their post-program study found that for every four green job-years created, nine other jobs-years were destroyed.

Although the Spanish study probably overestimated the job loss slightly, other countries in Europe have had similar results (about seven job-years lost for every four job-years created) and the Europeans have begun phasing out their green energy subsidies.

In particular, the Europeans were scared as the price of electricity had risen sharply because of the cost of green energy and employers were responding to this by off shoring production.

Alice G. Miller, Potomac

Martin Weiss, Potomac

Favoring public financing Good news at last for Americans cynical of the corrupting power of rich special interests in our incredibly expensive political campaigns. In one poll, 77 percent of Montgomery voters believed that political contributions were corrupting. Now, Montgomery County is about to have an alternative, and the Sierra Club of Montgomery County supports that change.

The Montgomery County Council is considering a bill that would offer candidates for council and county executive offices alternatives to special interest money.

Introduced by Councilman Philip Andrews and supported by the entire council, Bill 16-14 would match small individual contributions with measured county financing. A candidate who joins the county’s financing program must reject special

interest funds.

Fourteen states, including Maryland, have public financing for elections. This bill is based upon lessons learned in decades of experience. With this bill, Montgomery County becomes the model of a political culture responsive to the public.

Public financing results in better, more objective government decisions. It frees candidates to spend their time talking to voters instead of to big contributors. It will free lawmakers to devote their attention to the full time work of legislating, not fund raising.

Critics of public funding claim that it will produce a flood of frivolous candidates. This bill, however, sets high hurdles to qualify for public funding.

Opponents of public financing may

complain that it would be a fiscal burden.

But cost estimates only range up to $2.5 million a year, a sum equal to about 1.5 percent of just the annual growth in the county’s tax revenue.

Public cynicism is a toxin; it corrodes democracy. Public financing is the antidote that delivers healthy government and fosters sound, objective decisions.

The nearly 5,000-member Sierra Club of Montgomery County supports Bill 16-14 because good decision makers in a healthy government make good decisions for a healthy environment.

Ron Levin, North Bethesda The writer is a member of the Sierra Club.

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

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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, April 9, 2014 b

The curious case of Julius Henson

Julius Henson is a street hustler and dean of Maryland’s political pundits. a thug. He grew up in Lafayette Courts, And for his unpardonable sin Henson one of Baltimore’s worst low-income paid a steep price. housing projects, and completed MorNot surprisingly, it was Henson who gan State University’s course work but came up with the Ehrlich campaign’s couldn’t graduate due to an unpaid bill. infamous last-minute robocall message After a spotty career during which he advising 112,000 Baltimore and P.G. sometimes lived out of his car, he found County black voters to relax and stay his calling in 1975 when he ran, unsuc- home because Obama and O’Malley cessfully, for clerk of the court. “That’s had already won (Obama wasn’t even what got me into politics,” on the 2010 ballot).

Henson said. “I vowed to Subsequently, Henson never lose another election.” and Ehrlich’s campaign Since then he’s made manager, Paul Schurick, millions running nearly 100 were tried, separately, first political campaigns, with a 90 for voter suppression, and percent success rate. And desecond because the robospite his reputation as a politcalls failed to include an ical hit man (he calls himself “authority line” (i.e., every a “pure warrior”), Henson’s political campaign ad must clients have included goveridentify the political sponnors, congressmen, mayors, sor). state lawmakers and local ofMaryland’s voter supMY MARYLAND pression statute says “no ficials. His breakthrough win BLAIR LEE was Baltimore’s 1999 compperson can willfully and troller’s race, when Henson knowingly influence or atgot his girlfriend, Joan Pratt, tempt to influence a voter’s elected in a stunning upset against the decision whether to go to the polls ... establishment candidate. through use of force, fraud, threat, menHenson’s specialty is street tactics, ace, intimidation, etc.” I’m good with all dirty tricks, smears and whatever else but the “fraud” part. Clearly, Henson’s works. “Henson has a level of enthusi- and Schurick’s phony robocalls atasm and brass knuckles that Baltimor- tempted to keep black voters from going eans are not used to,” observed the late to the polls. But where do you draw the Art Murphy, one of the city’s savviest line? Aren’t most political ads fraudupoliticians. “He runs an in-your-face lent? And aren’t political “dirty tricks” campaign and does an excellent job. common in all campaigns?

He is by far the best; he wins the big Turns out, however, that it didn’t ones.” A Henson detractor, the late Del. matter, and here’s where the story gets Pete Rawlings, put it differently: “Like really slimy. Schurick was convicted on war, politics is not a genteel game, but all counts, but Henson’s jury, 10 African there are rules of engagement and Ju- Americans and two whites, acquitted lius violates them.” Here’s how Henson him on the voter suppression charges describes his unorthodoxy: “The people and merely convicted him of conspirwho made that rule are the ones in of- ing to produce a political ad (robocall) fice and they want us to follow rules that that lacked an authority line, a misdebenefit them. ... I’m not going to play meanor. Apparently, Henson’s jury was their game.” sympathetic to his claim that he was Despite Henson’s unsavory tactics, a being targeted by the Democratic estabhost of otherwise reputable Democrats lishment “for jumping over the line.” including Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Leaving the courthouse, a beaming Parris Glendening and Elijah Cummings Henson said he was “elated” and “grateput him on their campaign payrolls. ful and thankful” for everyone’s support.

But in 2010 Julius Henson made a big If he’d known what was about to hapmistake: He hired out to Republican pen, he wouldn’t have been so happy.

Bob Ehrlich’s gubernatorial comeback The Baltimore Sun called the verdict against Martin O’Malley. “disappointing,” adding, “The judge has Being a hired hit man for Democrats the chance to set things right at sentencwas one thing, but doing it for Repub- ing. Mr. Schurick got 30 days of home licans, particularly Ehrlich, was unpar- detention, 500 hours of community donable. “What Henson did is akin to service and four years of probation for Karl Rove working to elect Democrats his offences. Mr. Henson deserves to be or James Carville flipping to the Repub- treated exactly the same ...” Well, Schlican side,” observed Frank DeFilippo, urick, the white man convicted of voter

suppression, and Henson, the black man convicted of being party to a political ad that didn’t have a tag line, were not treated the same. The judge threw the book at Henson: sixty days in jail, 30 days of home detention, 500 hours of community service and four years of probation during which Henson was prohibited from volunteering or working in any political campaigns.

That’s right, a man actually went to jail because a robocall he was hired to produce failed to say “I’m Bob Ehrlich and I approve this ad,” a common infraction for which no one is prosecuted, much less sent to jail. The judge, an O’Malley appointee, blatantly ignored the jury’s verdict and treated Henson as if he’d been convicted on all counts.

But wait, it gets worse. Always on the prowl for a headline, Attorney General Doug Gansler piled on by suing Henson for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because the robocalls failed to identify the name and phone number of the party placing the call.

Gansler won a $1 million verdict against Henson while deciding not to bring the same suit against Schurick, who was convicted of the same violations.

Having served his jail sentence and being barred from making a living as a campaign consultant, Henson decided to run this year for the state Senate in one of Baltimore’s most impoverished, destitute districts. Henson’s sentencing judge tried to rule Henson’s candidacy a probation violation, but it appears Henson will win on appeal.

So Henson is challenging Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, a steadfast ally of Senate President Mike Miller. Henson calls Miller “a jerk” who rewards lawmakers “who are going to kiss his tail.

I’m not going to kiss his tail. The only thing Mike Miller is interested in is making himself and his family richer.”

The die is cast: the Democratic establishment, the media and Mike Miller are going to make Julius Henson’s defeat their top priority. None of them want to see another person in the state Senate as smart, as talented and as ruthless as Miller.

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.

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Distracted driving: a dangerous epidemic According to data from the Maryland Highway Safety Office, 231 people lost their lives and 29,050 others were injured in distracted driverinvolved crashes in 2011. That is a staggering statistic.

I’m glad to see our state do more and more to raise the profile of this important issue in the hopes of preventing more Maryland residents from being injured on our roads — or worse.

That’s why I’m joining Ford dealers from around the country to recognize April 2014 as Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Distracted driving is a dangerous epidemic on Maryland’s roadways. We all see it practically every day.

However, preventing distracted

driving doesn’t just mean refraining from activities like texting. Distracted driving is any activity — eating, caring for children, personal grooming or even driving “selfies” — that can divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving and endangers the safety of the driver, passengers and bystanders.

It only takes a second to make a dangerous, and potentially life changing, mistake while on the road.

Let’s take a moment today and recommit ourselves to remaining focused and safe on the road each time we get behind the wheel.

Alex Perdikis The writer is the general manager of Koons Ford of Silver Spring

Montgomery police’s I-270 strategy deserves praise, not criticism The recent police effort in Maryland to capture bank robbers on Interstate 270 by shutting down the highway deserves praise from the public rather than criticism [“Police taking heat for I-270 strategy,” March 19].

However, the March 11 decision to search from car to car for armed bank robbers apparently was judged by more than one motorist to be inappropriate police procedure.

These same people taking objection would be the first to fling their outrage at public officials had a police chase been chosen as a course of action rather than the stopping of all

traffic.

In an urgent and harrowing criminal situation, law enforcement made the right call in trapping the perpetrators and moving in for a clean capture. Rather than criticize, the public should recognize and appreciate the good judgment and restraint shown by police in this case.

A successful resolution was reached without any further danger to the public.

The various police units should be congratulated for their effectiveness as well as for their interagency efforts.

Barbara Balbiani, Chevy Chase

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. Include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Send submissions to: The Gazette, attention Commentary Editor, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; fax to 301-670-7183; or email to opinions@gazette.net.

County Executive Ike Leggett will recognize the extraordinary commitment and dedication of those whose work has made a positive difference in Montgomery County.

2014 Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Awards

Reverend Leon Grant has led an exemplary life of faith and service. As the Senior Pastor of the Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville, Maryland since 1987, Rev. Grant has reached beyond the walls of his church to serve the broader community. He has been a community leader through service on the Montgomery County Correctional Facility Community Advisory Committee, as a member of NAACP Montgomery County Chapter, a Field Education Supervisor at Wesley Theological Seminary, and a Director on the Board of the Montgomery County Mental Health Association.

Dr. Michael Lin represents the American ideal of the professional who focuses his skills on serving the greater community. Dr. Lin has used his talents to empower underrepresented communities and help Montgomery County build one of America’s most welcoming communities through his leadership roles with the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), and his help founding the Asian American Political Alliance. He served as chair of MD Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and the Board of Trustees at Montgomery College.

Nancy Scull has dedicated her life to the service of our neighbors in need. She has been a stellar advocate and tireless worker for programs that promote family self-sufficiency. She has served as coordinator of the Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS) at HOC, as president of Bethesda HELP and Silver Spring HELP and a founding board member of Shepherd’s Table. Ms. Scull’s three decades of community volunteer service have helped provide emergency assistance and meals to thousands of our most vulnerable individuals and families.

The evening’s honorees include the winners of the Neal Potter Path of Achievement & the Montgomery Serves Awards

Adventist HealthCare • Ana G. Mendez University • Barwood Transportation • BioHealth Innovations • Carl M. Freeman Foundation • Choice Hotels • Community Foundation for Montgomery County Covanta Energy • County Executive Ike Leggett • Fitzgerald Auto Malls • Jewish Community Relations Council • Jewish Federation of Greater Washington • Johns Hopkins University • Lerch, Early & Brewer Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Properties, LLC • Montgomery College • Montgomery County Muslim Foundation • RAFFA, P.C. • SG Enterprise/Sol Graham • Safeway • Universities at Shady Grove (USG) The Sanford and Doris Slavin Foundation • Soltesz Associates • Southern Management Corporation • Verizon • Washington Gas • Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) • Westfield Wheaton

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THE GAZETTE

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Democratic executive candidates debate budget Leggett fires back at attacks on Silver Spring Transit Center n

BY RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

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Democratic county executive candidates sparred over budgetary issues at a forum Sunday in Silver Spring.

Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said the county government should not fund the public school system above the amount required by state funding minimums, as a way to control county spending.

Current County Executive Isiah Leggett said staying at socalled maintenance of effort for any extended period of time would be a “recipe for disaster” by lowering the quality of the county’s school system.

Former county executive Douglas M. Duncan criticized the law for providing disincentives for counties to fund more than the required amount because they’ll have to provide at least the new amount from the next year and in future years.

The Womans Democratic Club of Montgomery County hosted the forum. Republican candidate Jim Shalleck of Montgomery Village was not at the debate, and said he had not been invited to participate.

Leggett’s proposed fiscal 2015 operating budget provides funding for schools at about $26 million above the maintenance of effort level.

Leggett said he would love to see the law changed, but funding schools only at the basic level until it is wouldn’t provide the school system’s current students with the resources they need, Leggett said.

Andrews said while education is an important service that the county provides, so are libraries, fire, police and other items that get crowded out of the budget by education spending.

Duncan promised as executive to work with the county’s delegation to the General Assembly, the County Council and the school board to change the law so it rewards counties for providing increased funding.

Duncan continued his attacks on Leggett for the troubled Silver Spring Transit Center project, ask-

ingwhenthefacilitywillopen,what it will cost and if it will be safe.

He accused Leggett of forming a secret committee to prepare a report on the long-delayed project in downtown Silver Spring.

The comment drew a heated response from Leggett, who repeated his answer from earlier events that the facility will open when it is determined to be safe.

“All this talk about some secret commission. What are you talking about?” Leggett asked.

Andrews also reprised one of his favorite lines about the transit center, pointing out that both DuncanandLeggetthavehadopportunities to get the facility open as county executiveandhavefailedtodoso.

He said perhaps Duncan could get some information on when the transit center will open from the project’s general contractor FoulgerPratt, who had done some consulting work for Duncan.

Duncanusedtheforumtopromote his “Leadership In Action” plan.

The plan includes policy proposals on a variety of issues, including education, job creation, infrastructure and the environment. rmarshall@gazette.net

Montgomery County’s ‘high-poverty,’ ‘low-poverty’ high schools

BY LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

138674G

Montgomery County public high schools with high levels of poverty have greater numbers of African American and Hispanic students and lower-performing students compared to the schools with lower levels of poverty, according to a county government report released Tuesday.

The report from the county’s Office of Legislative Oversight compared the county’s 14 “lowpoverty” high schools with the 11 “high-poverty” high schools that include those in the county school system’s Northeast and Downcounty Consortia as well as Gaithersburg, Watkins Mill and Seneca Valley high schools.

The report serves to update findings from the county office’s 2009 report looking at the high schools in the Northeast and Downcounty consortia.

Elaine Bonner-Tompkins, a senior legislative analyst in the county office who wrote the report, said “it’s very clear” demographics are changing in the county.

However, she said, “The school system is responsible for both the boundaries for the clusters as well as the programming that happens within the schools.”

Bonner-Tompkins said the school system has directed efforts toward at the elementary and occassionally middle-school level to address increasing numbers of low-income, minority and ESOL students.

“There just hasn’t been that same level of investment at the secondary level, particularly not the high school level,” she said.

The consortia approach, she said, seemed to be the school system’s strategy for addressing increasing poverty and the need to diversify the student populations in secondary schools.

That approach, she said, is not working.

Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice said the report indicates what the county has known for “a very, very long time” and is “no surprise” to him.

Rice said, however, that this report should produce a sense of urgency in the county as it solidifies the problem it faces.

The county can no longer say the issue needs to be studied, he said.

“We need to see measured growth year over year and show that we are making a difference,” he said.

The content of the report isn’t new, he said, but it will help the county target particular schools and areas.

PAINT BRANCH IDENTICAL TWINS BUT FIND DIFFERENT ROLES WITH MONTGOMERY COLLEGE BASEBALL, B-3

SPORTS

GAMES ON GAZETTE.NET

Posted online by 8 a.m. the following day. Schedule subject to change.

BOYS’ LACROSSE: Landon at Georgetown Prep, 4:30 p.m. Friday Two of the top 8-ranked teams in the nation face off for the first time this season.

TRACK AND FIELD: Woodward Relays at Georgetown Prep, Saturday TENNIS: Landon at Georgetown Prep, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday

BETHESDA | KENSINGTON

www.gazette.net | Wednesday, April 9, 2014 | Page B-1

Churchill’s top tennis player wears out foes

“‘I’M JUST JACK ROLLE, AND I LOVE TO PLAY GOLF.’”

n

Defending county champion has sights on state title

BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER

Fresh approach

Winston Churchill High School senior No. 1 singles player William Szamosszegi wears three pairs of socks for every tennis match and even that much layering doesn’t always protect his feet from the wear and tear he puts on them, he said. That stress is symptomatic of the counterpunching style of tennis the defending No. 1 singles county champion is reliant on, and drives his opponents crazy with.

“I triple sock but even then sometimes my feet wear out because I slide a lot on the hard courts,” said Szamosszegi, a Bucknell University recruit. “Walking on to the court, with the consistent type of game I play, the longer the match goes even if I do more running than my opponent, I know I’ll be better off. The only thing I would worry about is my feet.”

While Szamosszegi’s game is predicated on moving his opponents around the court and working each point

See WEARS, Page B-2

GEORGETOWN PREP FRESHMAN CHANGES PERSPECTIVE AFTER FACING BRAIN CANCER

n

BY

TRAVIS MEWHIRTER STAFF WRITER

Most 10-year-olds do not view the world with an adult perspective. Lacking the nuance that life experience teaches, they can form quick opinions. For example, when someone gets cancer, “they die,” Georgetown Prep freshman golfer Jack Rolle recalled thinking last week at the Country Club of Maryland in Towson.

Rolle knows exactly what goes through a 10-year-old’s mind when a doctor tells him

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Paint Branch High School junior Nick Bazis (left) helps coach Tommy Rey carry baseball gear from the parking lot as they arrive for a home game at Kelley Park in Gaithersburg on April 2. The Panthers haven’t played a true home game in Burtonsville since 2010.

Paint Branch grows weary of ‘nomad’ baseball

See APPROACH, Page B-3

Panthers haven’t played a game at their school since 2010 n

Georgetown Prep golfer Jack Rolle watches a shot in Thursday’s match against Calvert Hall at the Country Club of Maryland in Towson.

GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE

BY TED BLACK STAFF WRITER

Bethesda native helps at-risk youth get into the game Leveling the Playing Field donates more sports equipment to 35 area youth programs n

BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER

The first thing 2007 Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School graduate Max Levitt did as the Syracuse University football team’s equipment manager from 200911 when he got back to school each year

1910217

was clear out virtually all the item’s in the team’s equipment shed to make room for the new shipments from Nike.

Most college athletics programs have contracts with certain equipment manufacturers, Levitt said, and the more high profile the program, the more money it is worth. For Syracuse, Nike sent about $2 million of equipment annually to spread across its teams.

“It doesn’t roll over year after year,”

See YOUTH, Page B-3

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Margie Glancz, of Rockville, and project organizer Max Levit collect sports equipment Sunday for Level the Playing Field.

From the time that he began watching his older brother, Brian Jacobs, play for the Paint Branch High School baseball team, Panthers’ senior Drew Jacobs has dreamed about playing games on his school’s home field.

But through the first three seasons of his high school tenure and into the early part of his senior year, Jacobs can only describe playing home games at Paint Branch as a dream. After playing their home games at James H. Blake the previous two seasons, Paint Branch has been forced to designate Kelley Park in Gaithersburg as its home field this spring and Jacobs said he is running out of chances to play a genuine home game.

“It stinks,” Jacobs said of the Panthers’ current arrangement, although it has hardly impacted the play on the field during their 3-1 start that includes a 12-2 victory over Blake. “I remember watching my older brother play and I remember thinking how

See BASEBALL, Page B-3

THE GAZETTE

Page B-2

WEARS

Continued from Page B-1 in a surgical manner rather than attempting to blast winners on the second shot of every rally, he does his fair share of running during matches as well. In fact, because the Bulldogs’ third-year No. 1 is often scrambling and sliding around the court — not something everyone can do effectively — he said his teammates sometimes think he’s losing matches that he is winning easily.

At 5-foot-9, Szamosszegi’s groundstrokes might not possess the same bite through the court as most of his opponents’ but his quick feet and determination to track down every ball that comes back over the net make him the type of player any top player would be wary of. “[Szamosszegi’s game] wears his opponents out,” first-year Churchill boys’ coach Meaghan Lee said. “He moves his opponents around and gets to every ball, he’s very fast on the court.

When the other player thinks he played a winner, [Szamosszegi] will get it. ... I don’t really think he’s ever losing but there are certain points where he will not let the other player hit a winner so it looks like he’s getting run off the

court. But he just keeps getting everything back.”

While Szamosszegi said defending last year’s individual title is important to him, his goals for the county tournament next month are more heavily geared toward helping put Churchill in a position to win its first team title since four-time defending champion Thomas S. Wootton’s recent run. The Bulldogs were second by only one point in 2013.

Szamosszegi said he also has his sights set on winning the state boys’ singles title over Memorial Day weekend. He will first have to weather a stacked field in the state’s toughest all-Montgomery County Region II that will likely include training partners and friends Wootton No. 1 Titas Bera, Walt Whitman No. 1 Aries Wong and Poolesville No. 1 Dennis Wong.

Lee said Szamosszegi’s drive motivates his teammates as well.

Though Szamosszegi has spent the majority of his high school tenure as Churchill’s top player, as a first-year captain this spring he said he has relished the opportunity to take on more leadership responsibilities.

While consistency, aside from sheer speed, is Szamosszegi’s greatest strength, it can also be his downfall, he and Lee

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

WJ, Sherwood start building a new rivalry n Northwood junior wins Player of the Week honors

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Third-year Winston Churchill High School No. 1 singles player Will Szamosszegi practices on April 2. agreed. But being more aggressive when the opportunity presents itself is something he said he has worked on in recent months as he’s rededicated himself to the sport he chose over soccer three years ago because of its individuality. A long list of injuries that Szamosszegi said were mostly due to overtraining, had made tennis seem like more of a chore in recent years — high school season was different, he said.

But something clicked this fall,

Szamosszegi said. With his heart back in tennis, his game is rapidly evolving, though it will always be rooted in counterpunching.

“I really like [Rafael] Nadal and I know that sounds cliche, but I just like the way he plays,” Szamosszegi said. “He started making himself more of an aggressive player and I’m also making that adjustment. But he fights for every ball. Even if I don’t think I’m going to get to a ball, I run to it until it bounces twice.”

The Sherwood High School and Walter Johnson boys’ lacrosse teams have developed a friendly rivalry over the past few years, one that has only heightened now that Sherwood moved into the competitive 4A/3A South Division.

Their most recent game came

LACROSSE NOTEBOOK

BY ERIC GOLDWEIN on Friday, with the Wildcats (5-0 as of Monday) winning 12-11 in overtime. Senior Max Vanegas scored twice in the victory, tallying the game-winning goal in the extra period to defeat Sherwood (3-1).

“It was really a game of ebbs and flows. Sherwood had all the momentum going into overtime and we were fortunate to win the faceoff and end

HOW THEY RANK Girls n 1. Good Counsel n 2. Stone Ridge n 3. Sherwood n 4. Bullis n 5. Churchill

Boys n 1. Georgetown Prep n 2. Landon n 3. DeMatha n 4. Churchill n 5. Bullis

it early,” Walter Johnson coach Alan Pohoryles said.

Walter Johnson won 14-6 when the teams met last season, but they played three times in 2012, with the Warriors winning all three by a combined six goals. Sherwood won 6-5 in double-overtime in the postseason, avenging a 17-16 loss in the previous postseason.

“The good thing is, the two schools have sort of become rivals, even though they’re not geographically close to each other,” Pohoryles said.

The next time there’s a Sherwood-Walter Johnson game, don’t be surprised to see an overtime or two.

“It just becomes a battle every time we play, in the most sportsman kind of way,” Pohoryles said.

Northwood junior wins player of the week Northwood (3-1 as of Monday) is just two victories away from matching last year’s five-win mark, and the improvement has required a team-wide effort. But in the past couple games, the Gladiators’ offense has depended heavily on Lewis Andrews, the Montgomery County Lacrosse Coaches Association’s 4A/3A East Division Player of the Week.

Andrews, a junior attackman, had 12 goals and seven assists in two Northwood victories this past week, including a nine-goal performance in a 19-4 win over John F. Kennedy. He is joined by Thomas S. Wootton senior Jake Dunlop (4A/3A South), Quince Orchard junior Xavier Twine (4A/3A West) and Damascus sophomore Joey Salisbury (3A/2A), who received the award for their respective divisions.

Dunlop won 55 of 59 faceoffs while recording four goals and 30 ground balls last week. The Patriots midfielder has six goals on the season and has won 66 of 73 faceoffs, the second highest total in the division.

Twine helped the Cougars win three games last week by winning 62 percent of his faceoffs (28 of 45) and recording 14 ground balls. Salisbury was a steady defensive presence for the Swarmin’ Hornets, recording 32 ground balls and forcing 16 turnovers in his last three games. egoldwein@gazette.net

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Northwood High School junior attacker Lewis Andrews earned 4A/3A East Division player of the week honors from the Montgomery County Lacrosse Coaches Association after helping the Gladiators win two games.

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Page B-3

Identical twins take different baseball paths n

Paint Branch graduates stay together, but are different BY

KENT ZAKOUR STAFF WRITER

When Nick and Jeremy Ponafala joined the Montgomery College baseball team last year, coach Dan Rascher had a hard time figuring out which 2012 Paint Branch High School graduate went with each name.

The 5-foot-11 Ponafala brothers, 19, are identical twins and the only visible distinguishing characteristics between the two are that Jeremy Ponafala has longer hair and a Samoan tattoo on his arm. Their taste in music also may be slightly different. Jeremy Ponafala says he would choose House of Pain’s “Jump Around” for his walk-up introduction music while Nick Ponafala says he’d pick Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky.”

“I had trouble knowing who was who,” Rascher said with a laugh and a smile during an interview on Saturday at batting

APPROACH

Continued from Page B-1 he has brain cancer. In May 2009, when Rolle was just a 4-foot-8, 75-pound child, he had heard those words.

“Before you know what cancer is, I guess I thought everybody who has cancer dies,” he said. “I didn’t know how my life was going to be but I guess with the support of all my family and friends it was a lot easier than it could have been.”

Nick Rolle said he never allowed the thought of losing his little brother cross his mind.

While still young enough to understand the severity of the situation when Jack was diagnosed, he was old enough, 13, to realize that cancer could be treated.

“Honestly, it’s a different perspective as an older brother,” said Nick, a senior at Prep. “You’re sort of — obviously it’s not happening to you so the way I kind of dealt with it was, I was like, ‘He’s gonna be fine.’ As an older brother you kind of, I don’t know, you’re a figure of strength.”

It’s impossible to tell now, as the 15-year-old Jack Rolle stood next to a pile of yellow range balls, hitting 20-yard chip shots before a match with Calvert Hall, that doctors once discovered a peasized tumor in his brain called Germinoma, which affects less than one in a million children.

Any scars he has from surgery are covered up by a PING hat drawn low over his light blue eyes. His tight, compact swing is a spitting image of his older brother’s, reflecting zero signs of reduced

YOUTH

Continued from Page B-1 Levitt said. “We’d take boxes of cleats and footballs and basically just toss them in the dumpster.

Some of the stuff hadn’t been touched yet, stuff like game balls had been used 12 times.”

This likely happens everywhere, Levitt said, because NCAA regulations make it difficult for colleges to make donations on their own unless approached by an organization. With the programs’ logo on the equipment, universities are not allowed to donate to youth programs where athletes have recruitment eligibility, Levitt said.

The waste of perfectly good sporting equipment did not sit well with Levitt. In order to combat that, he founded Leveling the Playing Field, Inc., a Montgomery County-based non-profit organization that aims to provide at-risk children living in the Washington Metropolitan area with sporting equipment in an effort to increase their athletic involvement opportunities.

“I did a lot of volunteer work with the Jewish Federation growing up and I’ve gone into areas in D.C. and Montgomery County where a lot of kids would kill for [what we were throwing away at Syracuse],” said Levitt, who added that sports were a major factor in his upbringing. “I started looking deeper into it and in doing research I found out that the cost of sports equipment is a huge barrier for non-profits.”

Levitt said he found that one

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Paint Branch graduates and twins Jeremy (pictured) and Nick Ponafala start for Montgomery College.

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Paint Branch High School graduates and identical twins Jeremy and Nick Ponafala (pictured) start for Montgomery College’s baseball team. practice. “Now, I got it figured it out. One (Nick) looks a little more serious than the other.”

“The long hair definitely makes it easier and helps people,” Jeremy Ponafala said. “I just wanted to grow it out and Nick has always been a short-haired guy. There was definitely a lot of

confusion last year. It was fun and we are used to it.”

The now-sophomore twins — Jeremy starts in right field for the Raptors and Nick starts at third base and occasionally pitches — have always played on the same baseball team. They began playing tee ball together

motor control or arm strength.

He will repeatedly say that, aside from the inconvenience of taking 10 or so different medications every day and checking in for regular MRIs and spinal taps, there are no lingering effects from the 16 rounds of chemotherapy and roughly 10 weeks of radiation in Boston that kicked the cancer into remission just months after its diagnosis.

Georgetown Prep coach Robert Barry knows otherwise.

After shooting a 42 earlier this year, Jack Rolle shook Barry’s hands. It was “like shaking an ice cube,” the coach said. Jack Rolle has Raynaud’s syndrome — the circulation in his hands is still not quite back to normal, a common side effect from the myriad treatments he received, and they are often numbingly cold. Not that he would let anybody know.

“There’s a perspective that he has that is ‘OK, I’ve been through this,’” Barry said. “The only reason I knew [of Raynaud’s] is because I shook his hand — the only reason. He says, ‘Oh, I’ve got this syndrome, Raynaud’s, and it’s about circulation in the blood and etcetera.’ And that’s where we are. He doesn’t make a big deal out of it. It means absolutely nothing. He says, ‘This is what I’m going to deal with.’”

Rolle’s remarkable strength, both mental and physical, throughout his cancer treatments has been a common source of inspiration. In the fall of 2009, it was the Maryland Terrapin football team. Jack watched most every home game from the sidelines with his brothers, William, Nick, and Chris; and after the Terps

beat James Madison in overtime, Jack was hauled into the locker room and handed the game ball by then-coach Ralph Friedgen.

Then there is the story behind the PING hat that Rolle now regularly wears. He did not simply pluck it off a rack and shell out $20. It was a gift from one of the world’s top golfers, Hunter Mahan. The Make-A-Wish foundation had learned of Rolle’s condition and, being an avid golfer since the age of 6, Rolle’s wish was to meet one of his favorite golfers. So Make-A-Wish flew the Rolle family down to Doral for the World Golf ChampionshipsCadillac Championship, where he met Mahan, took a ride in Donald Trump’s helicopter, and raced down Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It was very fun,” he said, “But very scary going about 145 miles an hour.”

Rolle does not view the world as most 15-year-olds do. After bad shots on the golf course, he doesn’t slam his club or fill the air with curses. At worst, there is a shake of the head.

“He knows that coming out here — this is his,” Barry said. “‘I’m not a byproduct of medicine, I’m not a byproduct of surgery, I’m not a byproduct of therapy, I’m not a byproduct of chemo, I’m just Jack Rolle, and I love to play golf.’”

“It gave me a new perspective on life that you can’t really take life for granted,” Rolle said. “You gotta look at the little things and appreciate them, just know how many blessings you have.”

in five underserved households are not getting their kids involved in athletics because of the price of equipment. Aside from physical fitness — obesity rates have tripled in the last three decades, according to Level the Playing Field’s news release — athletics possess important mental benefits. According to Levitt, children who participate in athletics are 60 percent less likely to drop out of school.

In just a short time, what started off as a small collection of equipment Levitt stored in his parents’ basement has turned into an organization that has donated more than 5,000 sporting items to 35 youth programs primarily in Montgomery County, but scattered throughout the Washington, D.C. area and impacting nearly 5,550 children, Levitt said.

That number is set to rise exponentially after Levitt and Level the Playing Field volunteers cleared out the Montgomery County Recreation Department’s warehouse Sunday in an event that drew out County Executive Ike Leggett. Leveling the Playing Field was given nearly 4,000 pieces of equipment no longer being used by the county as it now only offers basketball league play.

Among area programs benefitting from Levitt’s organization are Linkages to Learning — 15 sites within Montgomery County Public Schools — and the City of Rockville’s Latino Youth Development Program.

“Max really helped us with donating actual equipment, it’s

very expensive, money we don’t have in our budget to purchase supplies,” said Lynique Murray, the Linkages to Learning site director at Maryvale Elementary.

“That is money that I can now use elsewhere like for finding reading materials, other educational items or food.”

Whereas Levitt used to spend time calling around for whatever pieces of equipment he could find, an average of two organizations per week reach out to him these days. In addition to Syracuse, Levitt’s organization has working relationships with the University of Maryland, College Park, Towson, Gallaudet and Goucher College and he said he intends to add to that list. While donations aren’t an issue, Levitt said seeking corporate funding will be important as his organization and programs continue to grow. He has also joined forces with professional athletes and local teams, including the Washington Redskins and D.C. United, to provide a life skills component with his donations, Levitt said.

“Sport is a really good vehicle for teaching,” Levitt said.

“There’s always something that can relate to real life. One lesson we’re trying to get across is when facing adversity the last thing you want to do is put your head down, with hard work and determination you can get out of your situation. That goes hand in hand with sports. If you’re losing a game you’re certainly not going to come back if you put your head down and feel bad for yourself.”

tmewhirter@gazette.net

in kindergarten and moved their way up, including coach and kid pitch levels of the Oxon Hill Boys and Girls Club. When they moved from Temple Hills in Prince George’s County to Burtonsville the summer before enrolling as high school freshmen, they switched to play for the Burtonsville Big Dawgs.

“Ever since we picked up a bat and glove, we’ve never split up,” said Jeremy Ponafala, who was voted Montgomery College’s team captain this spring. “I can’t imagine not playing together. I think it would be awkward.”

BASEBALL

Continued from Page B-1 great it would be to come here and play home games. We’re trying to make the best of it.

Kelley Park has lights and it’s an OK field. But sometimes during rush hour it takes 45 minutes to get there.”

Paint Branch has not played a home baseball game at the school since the older Jacobs graduated in 2010 due to the school’s building and facilities being rebuilt. The constant traveling to games and practices is becoming somewhat taxing on both coach Tom Rey and his players, they said. The Panthers practice at Briggs Chaney Middle School on a field that does not have a grass infield and is smaller than a standard high school field.

On rainy days, the team will practice on the school’s turf football/soccer field.

“I kept thinking that we were going to get a chance to play home games this year,” Rey said. “We’ve been waiting for the county to finish building the new school and

Added Nick Ponafala: “We have an extra connection. Baseball became easy because we always had a guy to practice with, hit with and throw with.”

The twins’ parents, Pua and Cindy Ponafala, encouraged them to try several sports growing up — they played basketball and soccer before settling on baseball.

“Baseball became what we stuck with and loved, it is what we were best at and enjoyed the most,” said Jeremy Ponafala, who didn’t begin playing in the outfield until his junior high school season. “At first, Nick started as a first baseman and I started at third and then when we were 11 or 12, he started pitching and I started catching. Most days, we’d get the job done.”

Added Nick Ponafala: “I mean, we practiced together all the time. Our yard wasn’t big enough so we just hit a whiffle ball and played catch. No broken windows happened, but we tried to see who could hit it the furthest.”

This spring, both have made strong contributions for the No. 7-ranked team (12-4 record as of now it’s been almost five years. I’m grateful that we have a place to practice and we have access to Kelley Park.

But it’s like we’re a bunch of nomads. We’re always packing up the cars and commuting somewhere.”

Paint Branch junior catcher Sam Stewart has accepted the current setup and already made adjustments.

He admits that the scenario has hardly altered either his personal goals or those of the team.

“It’s annoying, but I’ve gotten used to it,” Stewart said. “Everything is OK. It would be nice having home games, but I like being able to play under the lights at Kelley Park. I don’t like making that drive over there after school when there’s a lot of traffic, but we get there and back.

As one of the team captains, I like showing my teammates that we can overcome a little adversity.”

Jacobs has not lost all hope that the team could play at least one or two games on the high school field before the end of the season, and neither has Rey, but the Pan-

Monday) in the NJCAA Division III national poll. Nick Ponafala, who broke his right ankle in April 2013 practicing sliding into second base and is not quite back to full strength, is hitting .394 with a home run and a team-leading 14 runs batted in. Jeremy Ponafala has six hits, including a double, in 30 at bats.

“It’s kind of amazing Nick is back,” Rascher said. “He’s worked his butt off. ... I’m amazed to see where he’s at.”

Both brothers hope to transfer to a four-year college to continue their baseball tenures next year, but they don’t know if they will still play together.

“It would be nice, but we we’ll figure it out,” Jeremy Ponafala said.

Montgomery College, which had several early season games cancelled or rescheduled due to inclement weather and poor field conditions, hopes it can get in a groove now that practice conditions have improved.

“You get stir-crazy in the gym,” Rascher said. “Hopefully we will be OK.”

thers’ senior has not lost sight of the team’s main focus — winning the Class 4A North Region title and getting to the state tournament.

“You know, there is still a chance we could play a home game this year,” Jacobs said.

“In the meantime, I’m not going to dwell on it. It sucks that it hasn’t happened and maybe I could go all four years without playing a home game. But our main goal is to win a state championship this year. I think we have the hitting and the pitching to do it. Having to travel for practices and home games only makes us work that much harder.”

“It’s really a tribute to the seniors and our captains that the team stays focused and stays together,” Rey said. “You never hear any of them complain. They leave school, go home and carpool to the field for practice and for home games. It’s not the best situation, but it’s made everyone understand that sometimes things don’t always go your way.” tblack@gazette.net

THE GAZETTE

Page B-4

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Sherwood senior excels in ground game Boys’ lacrosse: Midfielder one of county’s best in collecting ground balls

n

Rowe, a 3A state title contender, never ran track before high school n

ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER

If there’s a ground ball and Sherwood High School boys’ lacrosse player Mike Crooks is in the vicinity, chances are he’ll scoop it up.

Crooks, a 5-foot-8 senior, is one of the best two-way midfielders in Montgomery County. He’s not a dominating physical presence and his athleticism, while certainly a plus, can’t fully explain how he is so effective. But when the ball hits the turf, Crooks has a knack for coming away with it and gaining key possessions for his team.

Crooks has an exceptional feel for the game, or as seMike Crooks nior teammate Jack Sadler puts it, “He just always seems to be at the right place, at the right time.”

No where is this skill more evident than with his ground ball statistics. Crooks ranks second in the 4A/3A South Division with 38 ground balls, a number impressive by itself, but even more so when considering he’s not a face-off man. Among the division’s non-faceoff men, he ranks first in ground balls by 15.

“That’s always been a strength,” said Crooks, who has more than 200 ground balls with the Warriors, according to Sherwood coach Chip Steel. “It’s pretty much just effort, I guess. I want the ball and that’s an easy way to get it.”

How does he do it? It’s a combination of hustle, skill, timing and lacrosse IQ. “You have to pick your spots to go after them,” said Crooks, the starting point guard for the varsity basketball team “Sometimes there’ll be a huge scrum and you have to wait and get the ball out to a specific space.

It’s pretty strategic.”

That he is often up against larger, stronger players for ground balls hasn’t stopped Crooks from winning out on ground balls, senior teammate William Wykoff said.

“He just doesn’t care if he’s going up against some big guy, hacking him,” Wykoff said. “He’ll go right through it.”

Crooks, who recently recorded his 100th varsity point, is more than a ground ball specialist. He has a team-high 11 goals to go with six assists, ranking 10th in points in the division. His eight forced turnovers rank first on the team and third in the division.

“He goes harder than anyone else out there,” said Sadler, who has played lacrosse

BY

TRAVIS MEWHIRTER STAFF WRITER

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Sherwood High School lacrosse player Mike Crooks practices with teammates Monday at the Sandy Spring school.

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Sherwood High School’s Mike Crooks (right) practices with teammate Leo Hnarahan Monday. with Crooks since elementary school. “He puts out more effort. He’s just all over the place, high energy.”

In Friday’s overtime 12-11 loss to Walter Johnson, Crooks recorded a goal, three assists, 13 ground balls and two forced turnovers.

“He’s crafty, he’s slick and he’s sneaky,” Walter Johnson coach Alan Pohoryles said.

“He’s everything you want out of a midfielder.”

In the 2012 postseason, Crooks scored the game-winning double-overtime goal to defeat Walter Johnson 6-5. “[It’s] nothing flashy,” Pohoryles said.

“At the end of the day when you look at the

stats and you see Crooks had three goals and four assists, you go, ‘really?’”

Crooks, a fourth-year varsity player and third-year starter, said he has played lacrosse since third grade and started taking the sport more seriously in middle school.

He said he is considering playing in college as a walk-on and that he is focused on finishing his final high school varsity season with the Warriors (3-1 as of Monday) on a high note.

“I just want to win,” he said. “... I just want to improve, win the regional championship.” egoldwein@gazette.net

Damion Rowe, a junior sprinter for Seneca Valley High School, said he had never played or trained for a serious sport his entire life prior to his freshman year. Sure, he had messed around with some recreational league basketball and baseball teams, but it was never ultra-competitive.

And then, after being introduced to the Screaming Eagles’ football coaches his eighth grade year, he tried out for the football team. His success, having not played in the youth leagues like many of his peers, may have surprised a good number. Not Rowe.

“It’s natural,” he said. “I just am an athletic person. I like the competition.”

“He’s definitely a gifted athlete,” Seneca sprints coach Oraje Robinson said. “Very gifted athlete. He just don’t say, ‘No.’” Football, though, was just a gateway into track. As many fall athletes do, Rowe picked up track to better his all-around physical abilities, but Rowe took a liking to track so much that it soon became his No. 1 sport.

“I love going out to the track and watching a bunch of events and watching people fight for their spots,” Rowe said. “Winning is great, obviously, but I love helping out my teammates.”

Seneca’s sprint coaches, Robinson and Zachery Jackson, reveled in Rowe’s ability to pick up track so quickly. In just his third year in the sport, Rowe is ranked third in the 100 meter runners (his personal best for the year is 11.18 seconds) in Maryland — No. 1 among 3A schools — fourth in the 200 meters (22.78) — also No. 1 among 3A schools — and owns the fastest split on Seneca’s 1,600-relay team.

“On any given day, depending on how he feels, he can go and go and go and go,” Robinson said. “He really wasn’t developed, he was raw. This kid could come from 200 yards behind and smoke somebody. I’m glad we got him. He’s definitely, defi-

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Seneca Valley’s Damion Rowe.

nitely, definitely special.”

This is not to say that Jackson and Robinson are free of frustration. As much as a pleasure it is to work with such a raw bundle of natural athleticism, it’s equally as vexing to attempt to unlock that potential. The summer was mainly working on the technical aspects — form, running strategy — than it was speed. That part, Rowe was born with.

“Oh, it works you. There’s mind games. You get a little feisty with him because you know what he can do. I think with him, he just doesn’t know his own strength,” Jackson said. “In the last 50 meters you’ll see him and it’s just like, ‘Wow.’ And in the relays we’ll be down and then you’ll just see him zoom. But then you want him to do it in an open event so it’s more-so just reprogramming. This is his second year running, and I was shocked by that, astonished. He’s stocked, and he’s always been that way since middle school.”

It wasn’t until this past summer that Rowe said he realized he could be pretty good. He had proven he could compete against the local competition well enough, but when he got out on the summer circuit, racing anywhere from Potomac to North Carolina, his times were still among the tops even with those from other states.

“We both think he’s still got a lot left in the tank,” Robinson said. “By the end of the year he’s going to be able to top out.

He’s going to be able to walk everybody next year. And when I say walk, I mean walk, because he’s going to be at the top of his game.”

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BY

Seneca Valley sprinter refines his raw speed

MOVIE REVIEW

&

HIGH-FLYING FLAG

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is a soaring, sensational crowd pleaser.

The Gazette’s Guide to

Arts & Entertainment

Page B-7

www.gazette.net

|

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

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Page B-5

PHOTO BY SUJATA MASSEY

Sujata Massey will discuss her latest novel ‘The Sleeping Dictionary’ alongside Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of ‘Man Alive!,’ at this year’s Bethesda Literary Festival.

Bethesda Literary Festival returns PHOTO FROM MILES FAIRRIS

Steve Jimenez will join Peter Ross Range at the Bethesda Literary Festival to discuss their books about Matthew Shepard and the Lululemon murder respectively in a panel titled “Ripped From The Headlines.”

15th annual event assembles authors from all walks of life

n

KIRSTY GROFF

BY

STAFF WRITER

Psalmayene 24 rounds out trilogy with message of girl empowerment

n

BY KIRSTEN PETERSEN SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

Imagination Stage in Bethesda is putting a new spin on the Cinderella story, transforming the traditional rags-to-riches tale into a celebration of girl power with its upcoming production of “Cinderella: The Remix.”

The show, which opens for previews tonight, is the story of a young girl who is talented on the turntables but is forbidden from mixing beats beyond her stepmama’s basement — she lives in Hip-Hop Hollywood, where girls

Bethesda will offer residents a deeper understanding of new and popular works by bringing local and national authors to the area Friday through Sunday for the 15th annual Bethesda Literary Festival.

The Bethesda Urban Partnership’s festival began in 2000 with the goal of bringing in well-known and close-by authors and connecting them to the community. The organizBETHESDA LITERARY ers added writing contests in 2004 to increase community FESTIVAL involvement in the event and n When: Friday through allow them to share their work Sunday, various times alongside established visiting authors and journalists. n Where: locations vary “It’s always a really intern Tickets: Free active audience and we always have very lively discussions,” n For information: said Director of Marketing bethesda.org/specialevents/ Stephanie Coppula, who has litfest/litfest.htm been working with the festival since 2001. “I think the authors really appreciate that they’re talking about their book and getting a lot of feedback from the audience.”

For 15 years, the Bethesda Literary Festival has brought in a wide variety of guest writers, from local authors and journalists

CINDERELLA: THE REMIX n When: April 9 to May 25 (contact theater for show times) n Where: Imagination Stage, 5908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda n Tickets: $10-$30 n For information: 301-2801660, imaginationstage.com

aren’t allowed to DJ and “fronting,” or acting like something you’re not, is a crime.

When the famous performer J Prince holds auditions for his

See CINDERELLA, Page B-8 IMAGINATION STAGE

See FESTIVAL, Page B-8

Chocolate Ice (Mark Hairston) likes the beats Cinderella (Paige Hernandez) is playing in ‘Cinderella: The Remix’ at Imagination Stage, April 9 to May 25.

(From left) Jane Squier Bruns as Polly, Andrea Spitz as Brooke and Bill Hurlbut as Lyman in Silver Spring Stage’s upcoming production of “Other Desert Cities.”

HARVEY LEVINE

Digging up secrets Pulitzer Prize nominee delves into family’s dark past n

BY

WILL C. FRANKLIN STAFF WRITER

Many families have skeletons in the closet. When someone in the family decides they want to let the skeletons out, that’s usually when a world of problems pops up.

Jon Robin Baitz’s Broadway play,

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“Other Desert Cities,” brings family strife during Christmas to the stage.

Silver Spring Stage brings the show to life from now until April 27.

“It is a family drama that revolves around a daughter who has returned home after a long absence to celebrate Christmas with her family,” said director Bridget Muehlberger. “During this visit, she reveals a manuscript she has brought that is

See SECRETS, Page B-8

OTHER DESERT CITIES n When: To April 27 (contact theater for show times) n Where: Silver Spring Stage, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring n Tickets: $18-$20 n For information: 301-593-6036; ssstage.org

THE GAZETTE

Page B-6

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

C2 MEDIA RELATIONS

Country music’s Lyndsey Highlander will perform in concert tonight at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club.

Luckily Lyndsey Country rising star Lyndsey Highlander will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. today at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda.

Highlander currently is the opening act on the Phil Vassar tour and is celebrating the release of her music video “Flowers Ain’t Gonna Fix This.” Doors open at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $15. Upcoming performances at the supper club include the Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Dr. Hook, featuring Ray Sawyer, at 8 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit bethesdabluesjazz.com.

This week’s Second Thursday Contra Dance in Silver Spring will feature New England band Nor’Easter, with Will Mentor calling.

CARPE DIEM ARTS

Fair weather footwork

Carpe Diem Arts will host its Second Thursday Contra Dance at the Silver Spring Civic Building’s Great Hall from 7 to 10 p.m. this week. The dance will be led by caller Will Mentor and will feature the music of New England band Nor’Easter. No partner or experience is necessary and all ages are welcome. A beginner workshop is scheduled from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Second Thursday dances are scheduled monthly, and are presented by Carpe Diem Arts in partnership with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington and the Montgomery County Department of Recreation’s “Be Active Montgomery” initiative. General admission is $10, $8 for members and $5 for students and those with no income. For more information, call 301-466-0183.

Paintings and prints and ‘Hill and Glen’

NIH PHILHARMONIA

The NIH Philharmonia, under the direction of Dr. Nancia D’Alimonte (pictured), will present “Musical Genius” on Saturday at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Rockville.

Real ‘Genius’ The NIH Philharmonia, under the direction of Dr. Nancia D’Alimonte, will present “Musical Genius” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Rockville. The program will include works by Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Pärt.

Admission is free. For more information, visit nihphil.org.

BLACKROCK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Beginning today, works by Ric Garcia will be on view through May 3 at the BlackRock Center for the Arts.

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The BlackRock Center for the Arts will host two dynamic art exhibits throughout the month of April. Lesley Clarke’s “Hill and Glen” is now on view through May 3 at the second floor Terrace Gallery. Opening today in the Germantown venue’s main gallery is “Cuban Pop: Paintings and Prints by Ric Garcia.” The closing event for the exhibit will feature an artist talk and a classical roots and Latin soul performance by the Dali Quartet at 8 p.m. May 3. Tickets for the performance will be $22.

Both exhibits will enjoy an opening reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 12. Both exhibits are free and open to the public. For more information, visit blackrockcenter.org.

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BLACKROCK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Lesley Clarke’s “The Cobbler,” on view through May 3 at the BlackRock Center for the Arts.

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Page B-7

AT THE MOVIES

Truth, justice and the ‘Captain America’ way Steve Rogers keeps his courtly charm, but violence escalates

n

MICHAEL PHILLIPS

BY

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is a better-than-average Marvel superhero bash, intriguingly plotted and pretty clever in its speculations about 21st-century life for Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, the greatest of the Greatest Generation warriors, as he contends with contemporary American geopolitical ideals run amok.

The movie does its duty. It’s a reliable commodity, delivered efficiently and well, like pizza.

In its frenzied action style and overall visual approach, the film is interestingly different from the first “Captain America,” my favorite of the Marvel franchisees alongside the first “Iron Man,” which has been carbon-dated to a time when Robert Downey Jr. seemed like novel casting.

But I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed “Captain America” 2 as much as I did “Captain America” the first.

Many are praising the sequel for its harsh realism and frenetic approach to hand-to-hand combat, both in staging and editing. The directors are siblings Anthony and Joe Russo, who haven’t made a feature since “You, Me and Dupree” eight years ago, but who are about to become big deals in Hollywood thanks to the inevitable success of this thing. (They’re already attached to a sequel.)

The new “Captain America” copies the pummeling sales tactics of “The Avengers,” which made a billion-and-a-half dollars worldwide two years ago.

May 2015 brings the sequel to that all-star variety show, to be titled “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

It’s beginning to feel as if the Age of Ultron, which could be another name for Hollywood’s Marvel-dominant era, will never

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FILM FRAME

Sebastian Stan stars as the Winter Soldier in “Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” end. Long after life on Earth has been extinguished, there’ll still be an “Iron Man” sequel coming out the following spring.

This “Captain America” works for several reasons, beginning with the script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It pauses occasionally to remind us that these are supposed to be human beings, however genetically enhanced, coping with real-world problems of trust and job insecurity, and battling trauma and fishout-of-water loneliness.

Chris Evans is back as Rogers, who is now 95 years old but looks 30ish thanks to the deepfreeze process initiated by his S.H.I.E.L.D. overseers, led by eye-patched and anger-fueled Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), whose temperament suggests he’ll someday be revealed to be the real Incredible Hulk. The first “Captain America” was set in and around World War II, with Cappy and his boomerang-y shield fighting the sinister forces of Hydra. “The Winter Soldier” follows Cap into the present

day, alongside Scarlett Johansson’s wily S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Black Widow. Their nemesis is the Soviet supersoldier known as the Winter Soldier, who is in fact none other than … a fellow named Spoiler Alert.

There’s the tiniest hint of a romance, though Black Widow is plainly too much for Rogers’ emotional circuitry to handle. The new day that Rogers/Cappy must negotiate is one of rampant, escalating paranoia — never much of an aphrodisiac. Robert Redford lightens the film’s load as the trusted, respected, well-tailored S.H.I.E.L.D. overseer who’s mixed up in the World Security Council. America’s latest secret weapons, hiding deep beneath the surface of Washington, D.C., are a trio of flying battleships armed to the teeth and able to kill “a thousand hostiles a minute,” Fury mentions to a skeptical Rogers. Soon our hero is hung out to dry by his own team, and like a Redford character in a ’70s thriller, he doesn’t know whom to believe.

PHOTO BY ZADE ROSENTHAL

Chris Evans stars as Captain America in “Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER n 3 stars n PG-13; 136 minutes n Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford n Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo

The short list of the trustworthy includes an Army paratrooper played by Anthony Mackie. With a pair of sleek metal wings he transforms into the Falcon. Mackie’s a real asset here, and in general the cast is fully engaged, with only trace elements of sequel-itis afflicting the tenor of the storytelling.

They find ways to deliver the welcome wisecrack or the leavening zinger just so, before the

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next round of slaughter begins.

The worldwide success of these movies is in their superheroics, of course, and in the crazy degree of overkill involved. There is no “just enough” in today’s computergenerated Marvel marvels; there is only “too much.” And there’s a stealth element of hypocrisy in a film like “The Winter Soldier,” which bemoans America’s bloodthirsty, weapons-mad impulses even as it exploits all the hardware and an obscene body count for fun and profit.

Something about even a good Marvel movie is starting to feel a little bit enough-already. But in “Captain America” 2 at least our own skepticism and ambivalence regarding where it’s all going is mirrored by a protagonist who favors swing-era standards, even if his buddy Falcon has the excellent taste to recommend he give Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” a listen, too.

w No ing! w Sho

F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater

603 Edmonston Dr. Rockville, MD 20851

240-314-8690

www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre

Rockville Concert Band

Animation II

Sunday, April 13th at 3pm No tickets required, $5 suggested donation

Soul In Motion 30

Celebrating 3 decades of performing Arts and Dance Saturday, April 19 at 8 p.m.

Tickets: $30 - $20 1909806

THE GAZETTE

Page B-8

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Everything shipshape at Port City Brewing Since 2011, Alexandria brewery has expanded capacity each year to meet growing demand

n

Port City Brewing was the first bottling brewery to open in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since the close

BREWS BROTHERS STEVEN FRANK AND ARNOLD MELTZER of Old Dominion Brewing. The brewery’s name derives from Alexandria’s origins as an important colonial seaport, which later became a major brewing center. Owner Bill Butcher recognized that Washington was the only large metropolitan area without a production brewery and decided to fill that vacuum, opening in February 2011.

Jonathan Reeves, a brewer with 17 years experience, was Butcher’s first hire. Reeves helped design and install the brewery and develops the beer recipes. Since its opening, brewing at Port City has increased from 3000 barrels the first year to about 9000 barrels in its third year of operation. Port City has expanded its capacity each year

SECRETS

Continued from Page B-5 a memoir and not the novel they were expecting.”

The daughter, Brooke, has written a memoir focusing on a pivotal event in the family’s history, according to Muehlberger. “We watch as the family reacts to this event,” Muehlberger said. “… Everyone sees there’s a different perception of this event and we watch and empathize with the family as they struggle to reconcile these differences.”

Other than Brooke, the family consists of her parents, Polly and Lyman, who are both Republicans, and Polly’s liberal sister, Silda, who is fresh out of rehab. Polly and Silda have spent time in the entertainment business, as they both wrote a number of MGM comedies in the 1960s.

All of this leads to Brooke trying to find her identity in

CINDERELLA

Continued from Page B-5 Jam — Hip-Hop Hollywood’s equivalent to a ball at the castle — Cinderella disguises herself as a boy to get a shot at pursuing her dream of becoming a DJ. “In this version, Cinderella learns she doesn’t need to lean on a prince to rise above her station and live out her dreams,” said Katy Carkuff, who plays Cinderella’s best friend, Chin Chilla. “She finds the strength and the talent within herself.”

“Cinderella: The Remix” is the final production in The Hip-Hop Children’s Trilogy, a trio of shows written and directed by playwright Psalmayene 24 that explores the past, present and future of hip-hop culture. The first play, “Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth,” is a fictional account of how hip-hop got its start. The second, “P.Nokio: A Hip-Hop Musical,” is a hiphop adaptation of Pinocchio,

FESTIVAL

Continued from Page B-5 appearing for the first time to returning festival veterans from across the country. By pairing speakers up for events based on shared backgrounds or topics, the festival organizers create a forum to discuss not only what’s similar between two authors, but also what makes them different.

The “Ripped From the Headlines” discussion at 2 p.m.

Saturday at the Residency Inn Bethesda puts Stephen Jimenez, author of “The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard,” together with “Murder in the Yoga Store: The True Story of the Lululemon Killings,” by author Pe-

to meet this growing demand and now is able to produce 14,000 barrels at its Alexandria industrial area location.

The facility has a tap room with between 8 and 14 different beers on draft for visitors, which average about 800 to 1000 each week. The brewery is open for visitors and tours Thursday through Sunday with hours posted on its website (portcitybrewing.com). The tapping area provides a tasting glass and six samples for $9.

About 40 percent of Port City’s beer is bottled with the remainder distributed in kegs and sold in growlers at the brewery. Port City’s distribution includes the metro area, South Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, New York City and Quebec, Canada..

Port City brews five beers on a year around basis: Essential Pale Ale, Monumental IPA, Porter, Optimal Wit and Downright Pilsner. Periodically, the brewery makes an oyster stout using 3000 locally grown oysters and oyster shells per batch with part of the proceeds going to an oyster recovery program for the Chesapeake Bay. Seasonals include Tartan Ale (Scottish Ale) in the Spring, an American-style Bitter for the summer, Oktoberfest in the Fall and a spiced Tidings Ale, using Maryland wildflower honey as its holiday

DANCES

BREWS BROTHERS

Port City is the Washington, D.C. metro area’s first production brewing facility since the closing of Old Dominion. offering. Optimal Wit, a bottle conditioned beer and the brewery’s best seller, won a gold medal at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival. The brewery also took four other medals.

Porter (7.2 percent alcohol by volume, ABV) has an alluring aroma of roast, coffee and dark fruit which leads into a front showing muted roast, a splash of dark fruit and a soupcon of chocolate. The roast increases a tad in middle while adding both a nuanced vinous quality and a tempered bitterness. The roast and coffee grow to medium in the finish with restrained dark fruit emerging.

All blend into the aftertaste with roast and dark fruit continuing and a subtle chocolate appearing. Ratings: 8/8.

Monumental IPA (6.3 percent ABV) has a bitter hop, fruit and citric bouquet. The slight bitter and sweet malt front continues into the middle with the malt coming to the front. In the finish the bitter hops battle back with some added floral hops to see-saw with the sweetness of the malt. Both last through the aftertaste and linger in this balanced IPA. Ratings: 8.5/9.

For additional ratings, visit gazette.net.

this family.

“Brooke is really a smart, tortured soul,” said Andrea Spitz, who plays Brooke. “She grew up in a family that didn’t really fit her. Because of this enormous secret the family has kept for all these years, she never really got to negotiate the family waters on her own terms because there was so much she didn’t understand.”

Brooke does love and care for her family, Spitz said, but she knows the only way to make a name for herself is with her memoir.

“At the end of the day, she feels like she has this book and it’s her story about her childhood and her life,” Spitz said.

“She feels like the only way she can be seen or heard in this world is to publish the book and finally tell her side of the story.”

One of the reasons Spitz decided to audition for the show is the strength of the script, she said. Baitz’s play was a finalist

for a 2012 Pulitzer Prize.

“As soon as I read it last year, I thought this was the kind of thing I’d really like to sink my teeth into,” Spitz said.

“The dialogue is witty and the characters are all equal parts pigheaded and compassion.

It’s a really compelling story, but it also has a lot of moments of nice levity.”

Muehlberger said the fact the play was a finalist for the Pulitzer was no surprise. Baitz, she said, has a way of writing specifically for his characters and they’re all extremely well drawn. “[Baitz] is able to show us their differences as well as show us the bond that they have as a family,” Muehlberger said. “They love each other deeply. They don’t always like each other, or like what each other has done, but there’s a central core of love amongst the whole family, no matter the sparring that happens between them.”

For Spitz, it’s all about the family. Even though they might not get along — whether its politics or personal events — the family dynamic is there.

“The family bond still ties them together and makes them overlook those differences,” Spitz said.

Muehlberger hopes audiences will walk away from the show not only thinking about what they had just seen, but also debating the events in the show with their own lives.

“We hope at the end … the audience continues to talk about it,” Muehlberger said. “‘What would I have done?’

‘What would we have done in our family?’ ‘Could you have published this story without the permission?’ ‘Would you have waited until a different time to publish?’ We’re just hoping the audience asks those same kinds of questions.”

but this time the puppet is a video game character who also aspires to become a “real boy.”

“Cinderella” explores Psalmayene 24’s vision for the future of hip-hop. He believes that a stronger presence of girls and women participating in hip-hop music would encourage a positive and healthy future for hip-hop culture.

“Right now the numbers are pretty sad in terms of boys to girls and men to women in hip-hop,” Psalmayene 24 said. “If we have more girls involved we would just get a wider breadth in terms of subject matter, and I feel like that would help the culture grow in ways that I don’t think are really possible without women being involved.”

“Cinderella: The Remix” is not a traditional musical — hip-hop beats will be mixed during the show and instead of singing, the actors will be rapping, Psalmayene 24 said. The show was written for young children, so Psalmayene 24 knows he’ll also have parents and grandparents in the audi-

ence who may have preconceptions about hip-hop music.

“What is gratifying is actually having the opportunity to use hip-hop music in a way that people haven’t heard it articulated before,” Psalmayene 24 said. “It’s sort of like a hip-hop appreciation class for people who are not in the culture because they get a chance to hear it with new ears.”

Psalmayene 24 said a confident, diverse cast is essential to conveying the message of empowerment to young girls.

“They’ll see women on stage who are not only excellent actors but who also have a great facility for hip-hop performance,” Psalmayene 24 said. “I think oftentimes you don’t see people who look like you or are the same gender or color as you or from the same background as you. I want girls to feel like they have the ability to enter this culture of hip-hop and not second-guess themselves or think, ‘It’s not for me.’”

This is especially important for Paige Hernandez, who

plays Cinderella. She said she was exposed to the arts as a child but did not see people on stage “that looked like me or talked like me.”

“What I enjoy most about performing for young children is the seeds I’m able to plant in their very impressionable minds,” Hernandez said. “Being an adult artist and bringing this all to the stage is important to me.”

Hernandez said she hopes her performance will show young girls that there is always a time to be yourself and that individuality makes you beautiful.

“I think this is a fantastic fairy tale to re-imagine, especially with the way Psalm has done it because it’s not a romantic story at all. It’s about empowerment and that’s what hip-hop is all about — empowering the community and blurring the lines,” Hernandez said. “Even if you feel like you’re fronting and putting up a facade, there’s nothing wrong with being yourself and having your own perfect ending.”

ter Ross Range.

A Washington, D.C., resident who frequently visits Bethesda Row, Range was on his way to Strosneider’s Hardware the morning victim Jayna Murray was discovered. His interest in the unfolding drama led him to write an Amazon Kindle Single about the local murder.

“It struck home for so many people to have this kind of murder occur in a place like Bethesda Row, which is where people with their kids might be out shopping,” said Range. “You can imagine your own daughter being the person in that store.

With the sheer horror of the brutality, people couldn’t not read that and follow that story, and it seemed to affect a lot of people’s lives around here.”

In contrast to the local au-

IN THE ARTS

wfranklin@gazette.net

thor with a narrative based within the area, Georgetownalum Jiminez is a Brooklyn reporter and producer bringing his debut book about the murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998 and how the case developed over the following years.

The festival panel pairs the Lululemon case with Shepard’s murder as a way for the two journalists to discuss how the story is altered over time as new information comes out months, even years, later.

“The stories involving crimes often are told by the media initially in a kind of shorthand,” Jimenez said. “It really takes time to process and digest what these stories are really about in terms of specific details, the facts. These are two cases where

perception changes over time as you gather information.”

Jimenez and Range’s panel is focused on a certain topic, like Saturday’s “Lincoln Literature” with William Martin and David O. Stewart. However, the literary festival also hosts events with author themes, including “Noteworthy Non-Fiction” featuring Michael Sokolove and Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman and “Remarkable Writers” with Steve Vogel and Henry Weincek.

Mary Kay Zuravleff of Washington, D.C., and Sujata Massey of Baltimore will team up for “Wonderful Women Writers” at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda. The two writers hope to make their presentation more of a conversation than a set of speeches.

“I love having an author’s

Carpe Diem Contra Dance, April 10, Nor’Easter from New England, Will Mentor, caller, 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.org.

Hollywood Ballroom, April 9, “step of the evening” mini-lesson at 8:15 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8:30 p.m. ($16); April 10, 17, Tea Dance from 12:30-3:30 p.m. ($6); April 11, drop-in lessons from 7:30-9 p.m., West Coast Swing Dancing with Dance Jam Productions at 9 p.m. ($15); April 12, Latin Night with Mr. Mambo, workshops from 8-10 p.m., dance from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. ($18 for workshop and dance, $15 for dance only); April 13, free Waltz lesson at 7 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8 p.m. ($16); April 16, “step of the evening” mini-lesson at 8:15 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8:30 p.m. ($16), 2126 Industrial Highway, Silver Spring, 301-326-1181, www.hollywoodballroomdc.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.

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, April 11, Ridge Kennedy with 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, April 13, April Blum with Hot Point String Band, 7:30 p.m., Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, $12 for general, $9 for members, $5 for students, www.fsgw.org.

English Country, April 9, Caller: Rich Galloway; April 16, Carol Marsh, 8 p.m., Glen Echo Town Hall (upstairs), www.fsgw.org.

Swing, April 12, Radio King Orchestra, lesson at 8 p.m., dancing at 9 p.m., Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, $15, www.flyingfeet. org.

Waltz, April 20, Destino da Rosa, 2:45-3:30 p.m. lesson, 3:30-6 p.m., dance, $10, www.waltztimedances.org.

MUSIC & DANCE Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, Lyndsey Highlander, 7:30 p.m.

April 9; Next Best Thing Presents: LIVE AT THE FILLMORE - Tribute to the Allman Brothers Band, 8 p.m.

April 10; Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band, 8:30 p.m. April 11; Dr. Hook featuring Ray Sawyer, 8 p.m. April 12; The Gospel Persuaders, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. April 13; Frank McComb, 7:30 p.m. April 13; JazzFunk United, 7:30 p.m. April 16, call for prices, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 240330-4500, www.bethesdabluesjazz. com.

BlackRock Center for the Arts, Peter Mayer, 7:30 p.m. April 10; United in Anger: A History of ACT UP, 7:30 p.m. April 10; TreeHouse Shakers–Hatched, 10 a.m. April 12; Grace Kelly, 8 p.m. April 12, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown. 301-528-2260, www.blackrockcenter.org.

Fillmore Silver Spring, Brother Ali with Rhapsody and Self Devine, 8 p.m. April 12; The Decibel Magazine Tour featuring Carcass The Black Dahlia Murder & More, 6:20 p.m. April 13; University Of Maryland Hip-Hop Conference French Montana Ty Dolla $ign, 8 p.m. April 17, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. www.fillmoresilverspring.com.

Institute of Musical Traditions — Rockville, Old Buck, 7:30 p.m.

April 21, Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Road, Rockville, call for prices, www.imtfolk.org.

voice in my head, so we will each read a bit, but it’s also fun to watch two authors yip yap,” Zuravleff said. “And it also makes people feel really comfortable to ask whatever they want. Sometimes there’s that awkward silence until people feel invited, and if they’ve already seen the authors interview each other then they feel more welcome.”

While Zuravleff’s latest book, “Man Alive!,” takes place in Bethesda, Massey’s work may be a bit harder for attendees to immediately place themselves in; her most recent novel, “The Sleeping Dictionary,” is set in 1930s-’40s India, and her prior mystery novels are set in Japan. Massey believes learning about the past helps others gain a deeper understanding of the present, and she hopes attend-

Institute of Musical Traditions — Takoma, Harpeth Rising, 7:30

p.m. April 12, Seekers Church, 276 Carroll St. NW, Washington, call for prices, www.imtfolk.org.

Strathmore, Afternoon Tea, 1 p.m. April 9, 15-16; AIR: Piotr Pakhomkin, classical guitar, 7:30 p.m.

April 9; Cirque Ziva, 8 p.m. April 9; BSO: Itzhak Perlman, 8 p.m. April 10; Atomic Yacht Fax, 9 p.m. April 11; National Philharmonic: Bach Mass in B minor, 8 p.m. April 12, 3 p.m. April 13; AIR Education Workshop with Piotr Pakhomkin: Classical Guitar Technique in Modern Rock Music, 7:30 p.m.

April 16; Gabriel Kahane & Rob Moose Duo, 7:30 p.m. April 17, 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.

ON STAGE Adventure Theatre, “The Jungle Book,” to May 25, call for prices, times, Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, 301-634-2270, www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

Arts Barn, “Great American Trailer Park Musical,” to April 20, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. www.r-m-t.org, www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

Imagination Stage, “Cinderella: The Remix:” April 9 to May 25, call for prices, times, Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, www.imaginationstage. org.

Olney Theatre Center, “Once On This Island,” April 9 to May 4, call for prices, times, 2001 OlneySandy Spring Road, Olney, 301924-3400, www.olneytheatre.org.

The Puppet Co., “Hansel and Gretel,” to April 27; Tiny Tots @ 10, select Wednesdays, 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, “Two Trains Running,” to May 4, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. 240-644-1100, www.roundhousetheatre.org.

Round House Theatre, Silver Spring, “Snow Angel,” to April 12, 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, “Other Desert Cities,” to April 27, Woodmoor Shopping Center, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, see website for show times, www. ssstage.org.

The Writer’s Center, Joanna Chen and Zein El-Amine, 7:30 p.m. April 10; Bethesda Literary Festival, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 11; Selby McPhee and Natasha Saje, 2 p.m. April 13, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, 301-654-8664, www.writer.org.

VISUAL ART Adah Rose Gallery, “An Allegory of Algorithms and Aesthetics,” Jessica Drenk, April 12 to May 12, opening reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 12 with music by The Blackberry Blonde, 3766 Howard Ave., Kensington, 301-922-0162, www.adahrosegallery.com Gallery B, Group Exhibition, to April 26, gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E. www.bethesda.org.

Glenview Mansion, National Capital Art Glass Guild, to April 25, Rockville Civic Center Park, 503 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. www.rockvillemd.gov.

Marin-Price Galleries, “The Way of the Horse,” to April 18, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.

Sunday, 7022 Wisconsin Ave., 301-718-0622.

VisArts, Xiaosheng Bi, “Garden of My Mind,” to April 20, Common Ground Gallery, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, 301-315-8200, www. visartsatrockville.org.

ees discover how relevant historical fiction can be.

By showcasing a broad range of talent from different styles, backgrounds and corners of the country, the Bethesda Literary Festival is designed to reintroduce reading literature to a community increasingly tuned in to technology, as well as hopefully inspire would-be authors to get out there and become a potential future literary festival panelist.

“A lot of people would like to try writing, and I hope our presentation will encourage people to follow their dreams,” Massey said. “Whether or not their writing gets published, I think it’s a healthy way for people to find out more about themselves and the world they live in.” kgroff@gazette.net

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

THE GAZETTE

Page B-9

Page B-10

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

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

GAITHERSBURG

Ask For Our Efficiency

An Active Senior Apartment Community Situated In the heart of the Kentlands neighborhood with all the benefits of small town living, with the excitement of the city life!

WEDNESDAY OPEN HOUSE COFFEE SOCIAL 11AM-1PM • Free membership to Kentlands Citizen’s Assembly • Planned Activities • Transportation • Emergency Pull Cords • Controlled Access

Kentlands Manor Senior Apartments 217 Booth Street, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 kentlandsmanor@thedonaldsongroup.com

ROCKVILLE

GAITHERSBURG

(888)303-1868

ROCKVILLE

GAITHERHOUSE APARTMENTS

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

301-948-1908

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

DON’T WAIT APPLY TODAY!

Senior Living 62+

• Emergency Response System • 24 Hour Maintenance • Transportation Via Community Van • Pet Friendly • Full Size Washer & Dryer

www.PinnacleAMS.com/GardensOfTraville

Se Habla Espanol

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Great Location: 1& 2 BR apartments available immediately, wall–wall carpeting, balconies/patios, free parking , newly remodeled kitchens and on-site laundry facilities. Located close to Rockville town Centre and Rockville Metro station and other public transportation.

Please call 301-424-1248 for more information

The New Taste OPEN OPEN S a t u rd a y f ro m of Churchill 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

STREAMSIDE S T R E A M S I D E APARTMENTS A PA R T M E N T S 3 Bedroom Special!

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The Trusted Name in Senior Living

Park Terrace Apartments 500 Mt Vernon Place, Rockville MD 20850 301-424-1248

21000 Father Hurley Boulevard Germantown, MD 20874

• Minutes away from I-270, Metro, and MARC Train

301-528-4400

301-948-8898

340 N. Summit Ave. • Gaithersburg, MD

www.churchillseniorliving.com

KENSINGTON

SILVER SPRING

The Kensington House Apartments Nestled in a park-like setting, The Kensington House combines a sense of tradition with living convenience.

Located near antique shops, shopping centers and within walking distance to Kensington Marc train station and Ride-on bus stop.

Property Highlights • FREE Parking • All Utilities included • Dishwasher Available in 2 and 3 BR Apartments • 6 Month to 1 Year Lease Available • Swimming Pool • Laundry Care Center on every floor • Individually controlled Heat/AC • Spacious floorplans w/large walk in closets • Parquet floors & private balcony/patio • Cable TV/high speed internet available

(301) 949-1215

GREAT SPECIALS! $380 off 1 bedroom with Den! NO APPLICATION FEE

kensingtonhouse@comcast.net

DISCOVER DELAWARE’S RESORT LIVING WITHOUT RESORT PRICING!

Milder winters & Low Taxes! Gated Community,amazing amenities! New Homes mid $40’s.

Brochures available 1-866-629-0770 or www.coolbranch.com

SPRING LAND SALE! 2+AC only

SPORTSMANS LAND BARGAIN.

16.17 ACRES just $64,832 TOP-OF-THE WORLD VIEWS! NEAR RIVERFRONT PARK Just in time for spring turkey hunting!

This large acreage parcel has stately hardwoods and level land. Only 3 miles to river with all the bass you can catch, plus a short drive to blueribbon trout fishing.

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Easy financing for easy ownership. CALL NOW 1-800-888-1262.

$21,900 PUBLIC WATER. 14 AC Just $59,900 River Access. WATERFRONT LOTS Level, mountain top Virginia’s Eastern Shore parcels w/park - like Was $325K Now from hardwood & sweeping $65,000 - Community mtn/valley views. EnCenter/Pool. 1 acre+ joy easy access to lots, Bay & Ocean Acboating, skiiing, fishcess, Great Fishing, ing, shopping, more.

Crabbing, Kayaking.

Includes all mineral Custom Homes rights & warranty www.oldemill deed. Just in time for pointe.com 757-824spring outdoor enjoy0808 ment! Little down financing, great rates.

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BURTONSVILLE:

3BR, 2.5BA TH, Fireplace, Finish Bsmt, $1725 + utils, No Pets. 202-236-4197

20 ACRES -

$0 Down, Only $119/mo. Owner Financing, NO CREDIT CHECKS! Near El Paso, Texas. Beautiful Mountain Views! Money Back Guarantee.

Call 866-882-5263 Ext. 81 www.sunset ranches.net

DAMASCUS: 3BR

$1400/ 2BR $1150 +util NS/NP, W/D New Carpet, Paint, Deck & Patio, 301-250-8385

GERMAN:

3Br, 1.5Ba, HOC welcome, ceramic tile floors, nr 270 & shops, nice area 410-800-5005

GERMAN: 3Br, 3.5

POOLESVL:

Advertise Your apartment community here! and reach over 206,000 homes!

3 lvl

GERMANTOWN

TH, Remod, pool., fin bsmt, nr Metro HOC welcome $1700/month Francis 301-570-0510

Lrg TH, 4Br, 2.5 Ba, w/o bsmt, 2 decks, nr shops & bus, HOC, Call: 240-383-1000 GERM: Newly Renov TH, 3Br, 3.5Ba, finsh bsmt, near Bus, HOC Welcome. No Pets $1700 202-299-4901

MONT

VILLAGE:

TH, 3Br, 2.5Ba, 2 lvl, $1599/per mo + util nr 270, NS/NP Please Call: 301-613-4721

N.

POTOMAC:

SILVER SPRING : Dwntwn Flower Ave. Unfurn 2br 1ba Apt. HOC Welcome $1250 202-246-1977

ROCK: 3BR, 3.5BA

ROCKVILLE: 3 Br,

1 Ba, SFH, walk to Twinbrook Metro, FR, avail now $2000/mo 240-938-0688

ROCKVL: Just pain-

ted 4BD/2.5BA,FR/FP, Lg Kitchen, patio, car port, sited on 1/3 acre. $2350 Owner/Agent 301-924-5536

MONTGOMERY VILLAGE:E legant

4Br/3.5Ba TH wo bsmt $2450+SD HOC/Sect 8 Welc. 301-785-3888

kBalcony Patio

(301) 460-1647

for pricing and ad deadlines.

TH. 3Br 2Ba. LR, EIK, FR. $1400+util Sec dep, NP. Many extras! 301-407-0656

GE RMA NT OWN :

kNewly Updated Units kSpacious Floor Plans kSmall Pets Welcome

Contact Ashby Rice (301) 670-2667

Ba, w/o finish bsmnt w/rec room & room New carpet, paint, w/d $1700/m plus utils.

Bokhari 240-525-5585 3BR, 1.5BA, TH, just renovated, nr schs, shop & bus $1600 + utils Available now call (240)876-1424

STRATHMORE HOUSE APARTMENTS

Mature, responsible couple looking to live with and help a senior in their home OR For anyone temporarily leaving the area. Will help with cooking, grocery shooping, cleaning, yard work and basic home maintenance.

Will keep home in tip top shape.

240-778-8562

Ready to move in! 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 FARM: houses $1850 + util DIAMOND /mo. 240-481-9294 or Large 1 BR, 1B, Parkyochanantennis@yah ing, Pool, TC, $1200, UTILITIES INCLUDoo.com ED!!! Please call: 301OLNEY: 3 bedroom, 697-1867 2 and 1/2 bath Townhome. NO PETS, POTOMAC/ROCK: Lg NO smoking in unit . 1st flr Apt, 2BR, 1BA, $1,900/mon. Call 301- office, full kitchen, pa922-4190 leave a tio, W/D $1600 util inc Call: 240-505-6131 message.

GE R M: 2Br, 2Ba,

recently renovated, fenced front yard, double sided fireplace, conv to 270, $1350/mo Call Bill: 301-922-1595

S.S: Newly renovated

FREDERICK:

Large Luxury Condo Frederick MD 3 Bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1944sf condo in private setting just minutes from Wegman’s!

This condo is 4 years old with many upgrades and includes a breakfast room/den, large balcony,on site storage room, washer and dryer, central air, additional storage unit on property, huge walk in closets, master bath with dual sinks, assigned underground parking, elevator, community pool and sports area. (and great neighbors) Please call 301-228-2938 for appointment. $315,000

1bd/ 1ba condo 55+ leisure world comm. $1200/m + sec dep.

April. 1st 2407936188

B E T H :2 Furn RM

Suite/SFH, priv entr & Ba, shr kit/laun, NS, must love cats, $1025 incl utils, near metro 301-229-1047 or 301221-1791 Avail Now

BOWIE: Furn/Unfurn

rm in SFH, $550/mo utils incl Free Cable.

It’s Available now!

Call: 301-509-3050

GAITH: 2 BR. 1 for

$500 and 1 for $450. utils incl. NS, NP. Sec Dep Req. 301-2162482

GAITHERSBURG:

1Br, shrd Ba, $550 util inc, nr bus station & shops 240-848-4483 or 301-977-6069

ADELPHI: 2 Br 1BA

large condo. $1295 uti inc + SD & Move In Fees, Front Desk.

Ref req. 240-418-5693

BETHESDA:

GAITH/LAYTNSVL : Lrg Rm in SFH, full

privlgs all amenities, pool ,beautiful country setting, NS. $600 301482-1425

2Br, 1Ba, h/w flrs, huge balcony, 1 block to Metro, Grg, $2275/mo 301-520-5179

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

GAITH: 2br/2ba fully

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

renovated condo avai now $1550 uti incl. avantishroff@com cast.net 917-544-6744

w/ba,Fam RM w/FP NSTH $720 + utils avail Mar.3016747928

3004 Bel Pre Rd., Apt. 204, Silver Spring, MD 20906

GE RMA NT OWN :

1 Br in TH, shrd Ba w/female NS/NP, $460/mo + util Call: 240-401-3522

GERMANTOWN

Mature Male, Furn BRs. Util not incl. Near 61 Bus Line. Maria 301-916-8158

GERM: Bsmt Br, pvt entr/ba/frig $750/mo nr bus, shops & 270, NS/NP 240-406-2133 & 240-565-7584

GERM: Male 1Br in TH Share bath & kitchen $450 ut inc Nr MARC/Buses, Ref’s Req. 240-370-2301 MONT VIL: Lg fully

furnished basement $1300 and lg BD with hall BA for $600. All utils incl, cable + wifi.

301-977-4552 lv msg.

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: 2BD in bsmt w/priv entr. Shared kit & bath. Near public transpt. Start $550 inc. utils. 240-462-4226 ROCK: Cozy 1BD

basmt apt. Priv entr. kit, bath. $1200 incl utils. N/P, N/S. Avail Now! 240-601-8844

ROCK: Furn 2nd flr

cape cod, pvt ent/ba $750/mo incl uti/cbl NS nr 270/Metro, College 301-762-5981

ROCK: RM in bsmnt

fem only N/S N/P, Kitch, shared ba $500 util incld. Call Celina (301)251- 0763

ROCKVILLE: 1Br OCEAN CITY, share bath in SFH. MARYLAND

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

Male $550 utils cable Best selection of incl. Near Metro/ Bus affordable rentals.

Full/partial weeks. Call NS/NP 240-483-9184 for FREE brochure.

ROCKVILLE: 1Br Open daily. Holiday w/o bsmnt suite w/full Real Estate. 1-800bath & kitchenette, in- 638-2102. Online dependent access, reservations: quiet neighborhood www.holidayoc.com n/s, n/p no cooking. $850 catv util incl avail 05/01. 301-523-8841

SIL SPRG: bsmt apt pvt entrance, full kit, bath, LR, BR, $875 util incl; sec dep $250 NS/NP 240-353-8746 SIL SPRING: 1BD,

1BA in 2BD, 2BA apt.

Male only. NS. $750 util incl. Off Belpre Rd. 240-330-2330

SILVER SPRING: 1 furnished BD in basement in SFH. Priv ent. $450 incl util. MALE ONLY. 240-676-0621 SILVER

SPRING:

Near Forest Glen Metro $450 avail 4/15.Shared Util,Kitch, bath (301)404-2681

SS: 2 BR bsmt apt

wh BA . W/D, kit pvt entr. nr bus/metro. $1400 incl util. 301439-6414

S S : Rms in SFH,

Shared Kit & Ba, Nr Forest Glen Metro/HC Hosp, utl/cbl/intrn inc CALL: 240-389-8825

MYRTLE BEACH:

Condo 3br 2ba, Slps 8. HDTV & free wifi Free Golf, Tennis & Ammens. $785/per week. 301-977-4227

G560358

10225 Frederick Avenue Kensington MD 20895

301-762-5224

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

GAITHERSBURG

GERMANTOWN

Park Terrace Apartments

14431 Traville Garden Circle Rockville, Maryland 20850

ORL/DISNEY: 3mi frm Disney 5br/4fba furn home daily/wkly slps 12/Pool www.floridasu nshine.com/quintero. htm or Quintemar2 @gmail.com

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

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ALL THINGS BASEMENTY!

Request for Expression of Interest Parking Structure & Roadway Improvements The MSA is soliciting Expression of Interest (EOI) from qualified firms to provide design-build and contracting services to construct a new 800 - 850 space parking structure and to complete select roadway construction at the North Bethesda Conference Center in Montgomery County, Maryland. The REOI can be viewed and downloaded on MSA’s website (http://mdstad.com/current-contractopportunities). Questions are to be sent to the Procurement Officer, Al Tyler, at atyler@mdstad.com. Responses are due Friday April 18, 2014.

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African Grey Parrot, grey with red tail, about 12 inches long lost in Lanham New Carrollton vicinity offi of Annapolis Rd. May fly a mile or even much further. Very friendly, name is Ari. Please call immediately, Jeff 703-201-2173 or Regina 404-7130900.

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to advertise call 301.670.7100 LOST PARROT: or email $500 REWARD Pet class@gazette.net

G GP2404 P2404

TOP CA$H PAID MY COMPUTER FOR OLD ROLEX, WORKS Computer problems? Viruses, PATEK PHILIPPE spyware, email, printer & CARTIER issues, bad internet WATCHES! Dayto-

Page B-11

NOW HIRING!!! $28/HOUR. Under-

cover Shoppers Needed \\ $300/DAY Typing Companies Advertising Online. We provide the training & the jobs to perform. Genuine Opportunity.

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ADOPTION- A Lov-

Multi Family!!! Sat 04/12 9-4, kids/baby G E R M A N T O W N : clothing & toys, hh Everything Must Go! goods & outdoor fp Din tble + 8 chairs, an17417 Siever Court tique stereo, reclining chair w/remote. & GERMANTOWN: more! 301-972-6315 Sat & Sun April 12-13, 9-3, furn, ar,t mirrors, stat. decor 11108 Knights Ct,

YARD SALE

St. Paul’s UMC

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Just off Connecticut Ave., behind Kensington Safeway. Furn, Bks, Nice Clothing, Toys & More!

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

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Get trained in months, not years. Small classes, no waiting list.

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of More Local Pet Lovers Pet owners spend more than $61 billion annually, primarily on non-medical services such as grooming, boarding, training and pet sitting. With more than 60% of households owning at least one pet, our All About Pets special section is a popular resource.

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GUARANTEED INCOME FOR YOUR RETIREMENT. Avoid market

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cal alarm and 24/7 medical alert monitoring. For a limited time, get free equipment, no activation fees, no commitment, a 2nd waterproof alert button for free and more only $29.95 per month.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 301-670-7100

GP2409

NeuroScientific Insights (NSI) in Rockville, Maryland, is conducting studies focused on the treatment of children and adolescent outpatients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as well as adult males with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

For more information call: 301-468-1001

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.

CASH FOR UNEXPIRED DIABETIC TEST STRIPS! Free Ship-

in your home avail nights/wknds for More info call 301-820-0342

ping, Friendly Service, BEST prices and 24hr payment! Call today 877-588-8500 or visit NANNY/H S K P R www.TestStripSearch. L/I. Laundry, cleaning com Espanol 888-440- & cooking, 3 schl age children. Apprx 45hrs/ AIRLINES ARE HIR- 4001 wk. Driving a plus.

ING - Train for hands CASH PAID - UP Olney 301-873-4753. on Aviation Career.

TO $25/BOX for FAA approved prounexpired, sealed gram. Finanical aid if POTOMAC FAMILY DIABETIC TEST qualified - Job placeASSISTANT: MonSTRIPS! 1 DAY PAYment assistance.

Thurs 1-9pm. Drive, MENT & PREPAID CALL Aviation Institute Clean & Care for shipping. BEST PRIof Maintenance 877Family. Legal. Good CES! Call 1-888-389818-0783.

English 301.887.3212 0695

Careers 301-670-2500

class@gazette.net HELP

WANTED:

Elderly Care, Live-in Only, Off every other weekend, WILL TRAIN!! $1500/mo, Call: 301-728-7377

to advertise call 301.670.7100 or email class@gazette.net

Acctg/Admin Support

N. Potomac. Seeks an organized, intelligent and motivated individual for seasonal work. Must have exc. verbal & written comm. skills w/intermediate skills in MS Word/Excel/Outlook.

Ability to prioritize, meet deadlines and work efficiently aq must. Exp w/payroll & GL work a plus.

Weekend availability required. Send resume and salary req to: hr@bwrc.org.

Real Estate

PROCESSOR

GC3265

Experienced or licensed in real estate. Must be proficient in English, independent, organized, computer savvy, and flexible.

College degree a must. Call Michelle 240-888-5076

Advertising Sales

Comprint Military Publications publishes 8 newspapers each week and the only website dedicated to the military in the DC region is looking for energetic, organized, computer savvy sales representatives to sell advertising into military newspapers and online. Job requires previous infield and telephone sales experience; prefer military veteran or military spouse with BA degrees. Must be customer service oriented and consultative seller. Candidates must be able to create ads for customers and work well under weekly deadlines and pressures of meeting sales goals. Great for prior military or spouses with experience. Sales territory located in Northern VA, headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD; telecommuting allowed 3 days per week (Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays).

Search Jobs

Find Career Resources

Page B-12

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Careers 301-670-2500

class@gazette.net HEALTHCARE

Champion is the premier home improvement company in the United States with over 75 locations nationwide.

Currently we are seeking highly qualified sales representatives to drive our growth in MD, DC and VA. As a Factory Representative for Champion, you have the opportunity to earn over $100k annually. You receive paid training and ongoing support from a world class company of more than 60 years. Champion designs, manufactures, installs and guarantees the longest-lasting, most energy-efficient products on the market today.

Champion Factory Sales Representatives enjoy: ∂ Company driven lead generation - no cold calling required. ∂ Aggressive compensation, bonuses, exotic trips and other rewards! ∂ Industry leading technology ∂ Comprehensive benefits (medical/dental/vision, 401K and more)

If you are a determined professional with a strong desire to advance your career instead of just finding a job, we want to talk to you! This may be the last time we hire sales people this year. Call 301-990-3001 on Monday the 14th or Tuesday the 15th only to schedule an interview time, ask for Kate Quinter. EOE

Become a Professional Chauffeur - We train!

If you have a good driving record, know your way around and enjoy making people happy then we want to talk to you. Please join us Tuesday, April 15th, 2014 from 11am to 5pm for our open house.

401K, benefits package, and bonuses provided!

All applicants must be of the age of 25.

RMA WORLDWIDE CHAUFFEURED TRANSPORTATION 11565 Old Georgetown Road, Rockville, MD 20852

Concrete Form Carpenters Miller & Long Concrete Construction

Experienced Concrete Form Carpenters. Good Pay and Benefits.

Apply in person Monday thru Friday from 9:00am - 12 noon @ 4842 Rugby Avenue, Bethesda MD 20814.

EOE/AA/M/F/VET/DISABILITY. We are a drug-free Company.

Meet seniors in their homes to assess care needs. Great office team. Excellent written, verbal, & computer skills req. Aging background pref.

Resume/salary to dwe357@yahoo.com.

HEALTHCARE

Qualifications: ∂ Experience is preferred but we’ll train the right fit. ∂ A successful Champion Factory Sales Representative will: Be self-motivated/results driven; Have a proven track record of success; Have a strong focus on customers ∂ Valid driver’s license and ability to pass background check

CHAUFFEURS

Full-time Intake Coordinator

Dental/ Medical Assistant Trainees Needed Now Dental/Medical Offices now hiring.

No experience?

Job Training & Placement Assistance Available 1-877-234-7706 CTO SCHEV

to advertise call 301.670.7100 or email class@gazette.net

HR Professional

People person, self-starter, strong admincomp skills.

Training provided. 4 hours/day M-F. amailto:abc15906@gmail.com.

RN/LPN RN/LPN needed FT for a busy Pediatric Office in Rockville, MD. EMR knowledge a plus. If interested please FAX resumes to 301-881-8451.

HEALTHCARE

California Tortilla – at the Paramount (A newly-opening Cal-Mex restaurant) at 255 Spectrum Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 ABSOLUTE MUST REQUIREMENTS

WHAT WE OFFER

1. Must be friendly and customer-service oriented 2. Must be punctual (on time) and dependable 3. Must be able to function in a fast-paced environment 4. Must be legally eligible for employment in U.S. 5. Must have own transportation or public transportation accessibility 6. Must have childcare responsibilities handled 7. Must not have any drug or alcohol dependencies (you will be tested)

1. Good starting salary (based on experience) 2. Excellent training and opportunity for advancement 3. Great work environment 4. Flexible schedule 5. Free meals 6. Convenient location and free parking 7. Bonus and employee recognition programs (earn more when you do well!)

• You will be cross-trained to handle multiple duties in the food service industry • We offer “better for you food” it’s not pizza, burgers, fries or McNuggets.

If you’re hungry for more than an opportunity, call, fax, or email Ken (the owner/operator) at: Phone – 301.252.4777 • Fax – 301.874.3733 Email – KBroadwater@CalTort.com

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

Call 301-208-6948

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

For more information on California Tortilla, please visit www.caltort.com.

4 hours/day M-F (any hours btw 9am-5pm). Self-starter, organized/detailed, out-of-thebox thinker. Admin & comp skills req. Fast paced office.

JJ123492@yahoo.com.

Dietary Aides

Long-Term Care facility hiring experienced part-time dietary aides for 4pm-8pm shifts. May lead to full-time position. Must work every other weekend.

Apply at 1235 Potomac Valley Road, Rockville, MD 20850 EOE

Let Gazette Careers help you find that next position in your LOCAL area.

DRIVER Comprint Printing, a division of Post Community Media, LLC, has an immediate opening for an experienced CDL Licensed Driver. Candidate must possess a clean MVA report, clear criminal background, and pass DOT physical and drug test.

Ideal applicant should have strong communication skills and professionalism.

Post Community Media, LLC offers excellent benefits, including medical and dental coverage, life insurance, 401(k) and tuition reimbursement.

Salary commensurate with experience.

If interested and qualified, send salary history and resume to: mdelia@gazette.net or fax to 240 473 7567. EOE

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

MEDICAL ASSISTANT/RN FT/PT busy Allergist’s office in Germantown & Rockville.

Experience required in giving allergy shots & skin testing.Fax resume to 301-983-6062

Front Desk/Admin Assist

GC3267

Growing Gaithersburg firm seeking professional, detail-oriented, quick learning AA. Must have a clear speaking voice along with a positive attitude.

Must be able to multi-task & be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite. Accounting background helpful. Main duties to include admin support, data entry & light phones. Salary commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits (401K, health insurance, etc). Submit cover letter w/resume to BLandfair@nosinc.com

HVAC INSTALL TECHNICIANS

Excellent career opportunity working in Mont./Fred. County for local company with exceptional reputation, 40+ yrs. & full-time work all year. Must have residential experience, truly professional & excellent communication skills.

Health/401K benefits, commissions, paid leave. Call 301-926-3253 or send resume to: careers@gaithersburgair.com

Real Estate

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

Needed for busy doctors office in Rockvllie.

Excellent salary and benefits. Experience a plus!

Fax resume to 301-424-8337

MANAGER

Upscale Women’s Apparel Company looking for Manager in it’s Bethesda Row Shop. Minimum 4 Years Retail Experience. Please Send Resume to:

On Call Supervisor

Great job for students, retirees and stay at home moms. Work from home! Answer and handle phone calls from 5pm to 9am two evenings twice a month for staffing agency or one weekend a month. Must have Internet access, and a car. Fax resume to 301.588.9065 or email to cc2439@yahoo.com

RECEPTIONIST

Private Bethesda Nursing Facility is seeking a FT Receptionist to join our front office team.

Candidate must possess excellent phone etiquette, strong interpersonal and communication skills both in person and over the phone, be detail-oriented, have the ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks, computer proficiency required, and have at least 2-3 years experience in a customer service or administrative support role. Excellent salary and benefits. Email resume to: taralawal@comcast.net or fax (301) 897-5093.

VETERANS NEEDED Use your GI Benefits NOW for training in Healthcare.

JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE Offered.

Call Now 1-888-3958261

Pharmacy/ Phlebotomy Tech Trainees Needed Now Pharmacies/ hospitals now hiring.

No experience?

Job Training & Placement Assistance Available 1-877-240-4524 CTO SCHEV

Recruiting is now Simple!

Get Connected

Project Manager/HVAC System Design

Installation design for residential HVAC systems: sizing, proper airflow & duct design. Extensive experience in system installation, airflow & code requirements. Must have excellent communication skills, attention to detail & professionalism.

Exceptional local company with full benefits package. Call 301-926-3253 or email resume to Careers@gaithersburgair.com Silver Spring

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.

Follow us on Twitter

Gazette Careers

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.

jobs@courageb.com

Scheduling Assistant

Must R.S.V.P.

Call Bill Hennessy

GC3207

FULL and PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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

MEDICAL ASSISTANT & RECEPTIONIST

Healthcare

Education

TEACHERS / AIDES

Lab Technician Andrologist

301-388-2626 301-388-2626

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

Search Jobs

Find Career Resources

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

Page B-13

Careers 301-670-2500

class@gazette.net

Roll Prep Operator

Comprint Printing, a division of Post Community Media, LLC, is seeking a dynamic individual for a roll prep operator (tender) for a Mitsubishi Diamondstar double wide press. Applicant must be able to operate a forklift with paper clamp attachment. Some computer and mechanical knowledge preferred. Must be able to work any shift and overtime when required.

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. This is a great career opportunity for the right individual.

Please email or fax resume to: hrjobs@gazette.net or fax to 301-670-7138. EOE

Admin/Accounting Assistant

Private club in North Potomac seeks an energetic, organized, intelligent and motivated individual to provide seasonal accounting and admin support. Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills, and intermediate skills in MS Word, Excel and Outlook.

Part-Time

Experience with payroll and general ledger work a plus. Ability to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines and work efficiently. Weekend availability is a requirement (likely Saturdays). Send resume and salary requirements to hr@bwrc.org

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

Call 301-333-1900

GC3285

Work From Home

Page B-14

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 b

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

YOU ALWAYS GET YOUR WAY AT OURISMAN EVERYDAY

SPRING SALE!

OURISMAN VW

CA H

BIGGEST SAVINGS OF THE YEAR

ANY CAR ANY CONDITION

#7380482, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

14,999

$

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

MSRP $22,765

18,999

$

OR 0.9% for 60 MONTHS

BUY FOR

17,995

$

BUY FOR

#2824647, 2.0 Turbo, Power Windows/ Locks, Power Top

MSRP $26,960

MSRP $30,365

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

BUY FOR

2014 TIGUAN S 4WD

#7229632, Automatic Power Windows, Power Locks, Sunroof

#9009850, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Locks, Sunroof

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

MSRP $28,350

MSRP $29,465

BUY FOR

23,999

24,998

$

2003 LEXUS LS 430: 74kmi, Auto, yellow/tan, luxury, V8, Sunroof, Parking sensors etc $14,450 Call: 301523-0884

23,933

2014 PASSAT SE TDI

BUY FOR

vehicle donation will help US Troops and support our Veterans!

100% tax deductible Fast Free pickup!

CALL 1-800-709-0542

$

2014 JETTA SE HYBRID

$

$$$$$ PAID! Running or Not, All Makes!

Free Towing! We’re Local! 7 Days/Week.

Call 1-800-959-8518

Any Make, Model or Year. We Pay MORE! Running or Not. Sell Your Car or Truck TODAY. Free Towing!

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2008 INFINITI G35 XS SPORT: Excellent Condition. 4 Door Sedan. Black on Black. 92,000 mi. Fully Loaded w/AWD, Premium Package, & NAV. $13,500 or Best Offer. Ser. Inq. only.

301-252-1839

18,795

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

22,955

DONATE YOUR CAR TO VETERCASH FOR CARS! ANS TODAY! Your

93 HONDA CIVIC SI for sale by original owner. Good condition Int & Ext. $1500 OBO. Wheaton, MD area.

301-466-5268.

$

2013 BEETLE CONVERTIBLE

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CARS/TRUCKS WANTED! Top

loaded, sunroof, auto, heated seats, md inspected $11999 3013403984

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2013 GTI 4 DOOR

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#1693378, Automatic, Power Windows/Power Locks, Keyless Entry, Sunroof

MSRP 21,085

MSRP 17,810

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#30001704, Automatic, Power Windows/Power Locks, Keyless Entry, Heated Seats, Bluetooth, Cruise Control

INSTANT CASH OFFER

2014 BEETLE 2.5L

$

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BUY FOR

2014 GOLF 2.5L 4 DOOR

MVA licensed.

LutheranMissionSociet y.org 410-636-0123 or toll-free 1-877-7378567.

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

G559781

2009 VW JETTA WOLFSBERG 27K

1997 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER limited 1 Your donation helps owner, loaded local families with leather & sunroof, food, clothing, shelter.

MD inspected Tax deductible. $4499 3013403984

FOR CAR !

2013 MODEL SALE

2014 JETTA S

DONATE AUTOS, TRUCKS, RV’S. LUTHERAN MISSION SOCIETY.

Looking for a new convertible?

Search Gazette.Net/Autos

MSRP $28,936

BUY FOR

24,999

$

OURISMAN VW WORLD AUTO CERTIFIED PRE OWNED 23 Available...Rates Starting at 2.64% up to 72 months

2006 Chevrolet Cobalt....#V406575B, Green, 97,004 Miles.....$6,991 2008 Jetta MT..........#V272778B, Red, 63,409 Miles...............$10,391 2010 Passat Sedan..#VP0046, Black, 86,098 Miles................$11,991 2010 New Beetle CPE. #V606150B, Gray, 50,127 miles................$11,993 2012 Jetta SE...............#VPR6113, Silver, 34,537 miles.................$12,594 2008 GLI...................#V272695A, Gray, 58,369 Miles..............$13,792 2012 Nissan Versa. #V221107A, Silver, 21,215 Miles..............$13,991 2011 Jetta SE.........#V405443A, Black, 51, 598 Miles.............$13,991 2010 Honda Accord SDN......#V508537B, Silver, 48,011 Miles......$16,491 2009 Jetta TDI.........#VP0043A, Black, 68,842 Miles...............$16,992 2012 Nissan Juke..#V257168A, White, 57,565 miles.............$16,994 2013 Jetta SE............#VPR0030, Silver, 4,340 miles................$16,994

2013 New Beetle..........#VPR0038, Silver, 4,549 miles..................$17,694 2013 Passat S...........#VPR0026, Black, 6,891 miles................$17,994 2011 CC.....................#VP0035, White, 38,225 miles................$18,754 2011 GTI...................#V239376A, Gray, 52,553 Miles..............$18,991 2014 Passat Wolfsburg...#VPR0040, Grey, 5,227 miles.................$19,394 2014 Passat Wolfsburg. .#VPR0041, White, 2,878 miles................$19,754 2012 Mini Cooper County....#V241376B, Blue, 38,350 Miles........$21,991 2011 Tiguan............#V008756A, White, 47,559 Miles.............$21,991 2012 Nissan Maxima. .#V073708A, Gray, 47,457 miles..............$22,494 2013 Dodge Charger.#V411396A, Black, 19,344 Miles..............$26,491 2013 Nissan Pathfinder #V266506A, Gray, 4,735 Miles........$27,991

11 Nissan Versa 1.8S $$

#464060A, 6 Speed Manual, 30k Miles, Black, 1-Owner

11,200

13 Kia Rio LX $$

14,400

#453017A, Auto, 2K Miles, 1-Owner

04 Toyota Tacoma $$

#467087A, Extended Cab, 5 Speed Manual, 72k Miles

14,990

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. Ends 04/30/14.

Ourisman VW of Laurel 3371 Fort Meade Road, Laurel

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

33K Miles

G557850

1.855.881.9197 • www.ourismanvw.com

13 Toyota Corolla #E0322, 4 Speed, $ Auto, 1-Owner, $

15,490

12 Toyota RAV4 $$

#364340A, Automatic, 20k Miles

17,900

14 Toyota Camry SE $$

#469044A, 6 Speed Auto, 5K Miles, 1-Owner

21,900

12 Scion TC $$

16,490

#R1735A, 6 Speed Auto, 1-Owner, 25K Miles

11 Nissan Juke S $$

#450094A, CVT Trans, 36K Miles, 1-Owner, Station Wagon

18,985

12ToyotaSiennaLEMiniVan #472179A, 6 Speed $ Auto, 1-Owner, $ 28K Miles

22,500

2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer LT..... . $9,995 $9,995 #N0339, Sport Utility, 1-Owner, Dark Gray 2006 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer #372287B, Sport Utility, 5 Speed, Black

$12,795 $12,795

$14,900 2013 Toyota Corolla LE........ $14,900 #E0322, Classic Silver, 1-Owner, 33K Miles

Log on to Gazette.Net/Autos to search for your next vehicle!

$17,900 2011 Ford Ranger XL.......... $17,900 #467057B, 1-Owner, 30K Miles, Ext Cab, Oxford White

16,700

13 Ford Escape S

19,995

$$

#372014A, 6 Speed Auto, 8K Miles, 1-Owner

12 Chrysler 300 LTD #469042A, $ 8 Speed Auto, 42K $ Miles, Grey

22,950

$19,900 2010 Nissan XTerra SE........ $19,900 #464098A, 5 SpeedAuto, 1-Owner, Silver Metallic, Sport Utility 2012 Toyota Camry SE........... $20,900 $20,900 #N0336, 6 SpeedAuto, 1-Owner, Magnetic Gray, 26K Miles 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander GT. $21,900 $21,900 #363225A, 6 SpeedAuto, 5k Miles, Sport Utility, Rally Red 2011 BMW 328i.................. $24,500 $24,500 #472196A, 7 SpeedAuto, Black 2013 Toyota Highlander Sport Utility $25,900 $25,900 #R1755, 5 SpeedAuto, 1-Owner, 16K Miles, Blizzard Pearl

2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid...... $25,995 $25,995 #432094A, CVT Transmission, 1-Owner, 13k miles

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

G557849

Looking for a new ride?

$14,490 2012 Nissan Sentra 2.......... $14,490 #P8858A, CVT Trans, 13k Miles, Bright Silver $17,495 2011 Chevrolet Traverse LS. . $17,495 #363442A, 6 SpeedAuto, 1 Owner, Sport Utility, Blue Metallic

14FordFocusSE $$

#472144A, Auto, 4k Miles, 1-Owner

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, April 9, 2014 b

Page B-15

2014 NEW COROLLA LE

36 $

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99/ MO**

4 DR., 4 CYL., AUTO

AFTER $500 REBATE

APRIL APRIL SHOWER SHOWER

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23,990

$

4 CYL., AUTO

AFTER $1,500 REBATE

15,690

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

NEW 2014 SCION XD 2 AVAILABLE: #453028, 453031

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NEW 22014 RAV4 4X2 LE AVAILABLE: #464110, 464132

NEW 2014 PRIUS PLUG-IN 2 AVAILABLE: #477438, 477437

$

4 DR., 4 CYL., AUTO

NEW 2014 PRIUS II

21,590

AFTER $1000 REBATE

4 CYL., AUTOMATIC

NEW 2014.5 CAMRY LE

2 AVAILABLE: #477410, 477417

$

21,690

3 AVAILABLE: #472282, 472245, 472271

MONTHS+ % 0 FOR 60 On 10 Toyota Models

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$

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1-888-831-9671

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

G557848

159/ MO**

$

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 COROLLAU & PRIUS PLUG-IN LEASES ARE FOR 24 MONTHS WITH $995 DOWN. EXPIRES 04/30/2014.

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