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Veteran hoofer Glover salutes dance masters on Montgomery College stage. B-5

The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON

DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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Tilden school project back on track Board OKs bigger budget, restores construction money for several in county n

BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County students and staff in five middle and high schools may not face delays to construction projects after all. The Montgomery County Board of Education decided Monday not to delay revitalization and expansion projects at two high schools and three middle schools. The board voted Monday to approve a $1.74 billion Capital Improvements Program budget for fiscal years 2015 through 2020 — compared with Superintendent Joshua P. Starr’s proposed $1.55 billion budget, which was based on holding off on some projects. The board added a total of about $192.6 million to Starr’s proposed figure.

See BOARD, Page A-12

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

The car that crashed into the back of the Bethesda Farm Women’s Market on Wisconsin Avenue is seen through the opening created as the damage is removed and the structure is shored up so that it can be repaired.

Bethesda Farm Women’s Market repaired and ready Ballistics expert Larry Sturdivan holds a bullet believed to have struck President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas.

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BY

KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER

n the early-morning hours of Nov. 23, 1963, Dr. James J. Humes washed his hands after overseeing what is arguably the most controversial autopsy in modern U.S. history at Bethesda Naval Hospital, now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The director of laboratories of the National Medical School in Bethesda took his notes of the proceedings to his Bethesda home and burned them after meticulously copying the records because, Humes later testified, they were stained with John F. Kennedy’s blood

and “inappropriate to be turned over to anyone.” “Having transcribed those notes … I destroyed those pieces of paper,” Humes, who died in 1999, testified in 1977 before a medical panel convened by the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, one of several political bodies that investigated the killing. “I felt they would fall into the hands of some sensation seeker.” That admission is one of many facets of the case that have fueled speculation of a cover-up and conspiracy over Kennedy’s death for the past 50 years. As the half-century anniversary approaches Friday, the autopsy in Bethesda continues to be one of the more controversial elements. “Dr. Humes may have had his reasons for

JAMES K.W. ATHERTON/THE WASHINGTON POST

burning the original autopsy notes,” Philip Shenon, a former New York Times journalist and author of a new book, “A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination,” said in an interview. “But it was still jaw-dropping to discover what he did.” Jim Lesar, president of the Assassination Archives and Research Center, a private organization in Silver Spring that preserves documents and other records on political assassinations, added, “It was an extraordinarily controversial autopsy that has been denounced by many authorities in the field.” Of the roughly 30 agents, military officers, medical personnel and others that the House

See KENNEDY, Page A-17

Historic building open for business two weeks after car crashed into it

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BY AGNES BLUM STAFF WRITER

Boasting two new farm women-run stands — Open Book Farm and Sweet Farm Sauerkraut — the Bethesda Farm Women’s Market is back open for business. Loyal customers turned out this past weekend to get their fill of authentic French croissants, fruits and vegetables, and fresh flowers at the reopening of the inside of the market. The historic white building at 7155 Wisconsin Ave. had been damaged in an accident on Nov. 6, when a woman crashed her Mercedes-Benz into the back of the market, causing structural damage that led the county to declare the building temporarily unsafe. Police have not yet released the woman’s name. No one was injured and the car remained lodged

See MARKET, Page A-12

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HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Group of seniors help lead Damascus to its first volleyball state championship.

This season’s hottest toys; how to give ‘green’; gifts to get for guys, nature lovers, book lovers and those who serve; plus, check out these local holiday events.

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