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Area favorites Fink and Marxer throw a musical pajama party in Takoma Park. A-15
The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013
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Bill would open land to deer bow hunting
Downtown Bethesda: Hanukkah
FOR ONE NIGHT
Festival of Lights celebration replete with jugglers, free latkes n
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BY AGNES BLUM STAFF WRITER
Alcohol measures also on tap for upcoming General Assembly
BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Whether it was hot latkes on a cold night, a fire-juggling unicycler or a desire to celebrate Hanukkah with others, about 150 people showed up at Bethesda Lane on Sunday to watch the lighting of an enormous menorah. “Who likes latkes? Who likes toys?” asked Rabbi Sender Geisinsky of the Chabad of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, which hosted the event for the fifth night of Hanukkah. The Chabad center, on Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, is a Jewish outreach group dedicated to fostering Jewish life, both spiritual and physical. It offers adult education, holiday programs and Shabbat services. It’s basically a “community resource for all things Jewish,” according to Geisinsky. Each year, the group puts on a Hanukkah show. Past menorahs have been carved of ice, built from Legos, filled with jelly beans or accented by a laser light show. At the center of this year’s celebration was a giant menorah filled with 1,000 toys. State Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Chevy Chase lit the candles. The menorah was emptied of toys, which were given to children who attended the event. There also was a toy collection for the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health. “The message of Hanukkah resonates with every single living person,” Geisinsky said. Hanukkah, known as the Festival of Lights, is the eightday celebration of the rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C. The Jewish people, led by Judah Maccabee, were under siege in the temple and had only one day’s worth of oil to keep their sacred light burn-
A Montgomery County lawmaker will try again to give archery hunters more room to help cull the county’s growing deer population. Del. Eric Luedtke again has proposed a local bill to shrink the safety zone around Montgomery County buildings from 150 yards to 50 yards for bow hunters. Current state law prohibits shooting any firearm or deadly weapon, like a bow, within 150 yards of an occupied home, church or other building
or camp. Around schools, the safety zone is 300 yards. Under Luedtke’s proposal, Montgomery County would be lumped with Carroll and Frederick counties, which have a 50yard safety zone. With the exception of Harford County, which has a 100yard buffer, the rest of the state must follow a 150-yard safety zone. Luedtke (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville proposed a similar bill in the 2013 legislative session that became a point of significant debate among the delegation and did not advance. Few solutions are effective for deer management in Montgomery, but about a dozen
See HUNTING, Page A-11
Purple Line’s obscure obstacle:
Hay’s Spring amphipod threatens to derail plans Environmentalists consider lawsuit to force study on the impact of building light rail line n
BY KATHERINE SHAVER THE WASHINGTON POST
A rare shrimplike creature found in Rock Creek Park — believed to be its only location in the world — could end up taking center stage in a fight against a proposed light-rail Purple Line in the Maryland suburbs. The tiny Hay’s Spring amphipod has been listed as a federally protected endangered species since 1982 and has been
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
spotted in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., downstream of where Purple Line trains would cross the park in Montgomery County. The recently released final study of a Purple Line’s environmental impact, some activists say, erred in omitting the colorless crustacean as an endangered species that must be avoided or protected. John M. Fitzgerald, a Chevy Chase resident and lawyer, said he and other environmentalists are contemplating a lawsuit to require the Maryland Transit Administration to consider a light-rail line’s impact on the
See AMPHIPOD, Page A-11
When Black Friday comes
State Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Chevy Chase lights a menorah during the Chabad of Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s sixth annual Chanukah Family Spectacular on Sunday at Bethesda Row.
See HANUKKAH, Page A-11
Council approves funds for housing homeless Appropriation provides money for rent, utilities and other expenses
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BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Fifteen particularly vulnerable members of Montgomery County’s homeless population will have housing after the County Council agreed to provide money to pay for it.
NEWS
READY FOR WINTER’S WORST
The appropriation approved Tuesday provides $649,325 for the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs to provide permanent housing for 15 people classified as medically vulnerable. The money provides subsidies for security deposits, rent and utility costs as well as services such as case management, medical monitoring, behavioral health services and help with transportation. The money will be used to place the 15 in homes during fiscal 2014, which runs
through the end of June, as well as continue the service through fiscal 2015. More than 100 volunteers spent three days in early November surveying homeless people around the county through the county’s participation in the national 100,000 Homes campaign, trying to determine details such as their age, mental and physical health, how long they’ve been homeless and whether they are veterans.
See HOMELESS, Page A-11
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PREVIEW
At the annual snow show, SHA officials show off the latest snow-fighting equipment.
Region becoming a hotbed for schools that specialize in developing top college basketball players.
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RECYCLE
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Melissa Shore, 15, and her mother, Lori Shore of Chevy Chase, arrived at 5 a.m. Friday to drop off another daughter for work at Bethesda’s Montgomery mall, so they stayed to shop. Story, Page A-3.
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