BESTFOOTFORWARD
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Socially conscious singer steps into the lights at Fillmore. A-15
The Gazette DAMASCUS | CLARKSBURG
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
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Leggett examines Ten Mile watershed David Kottler, who manages Mamma Lucia in Bethesda, checks an ID in the restaurant’s bar.
“IT’S SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE DOING IN THE FIRST PLACE” n Restaurants take cautious approach to county tests www.gazette.net
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PHOTOS BY DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Rachel is an underage volunteer for the Montgomery County Liquor Board. She poses in a Montgomery County liquor and wine store with her Maryland underage driver’s license, which is vertical and has a red box around her picture to indicate that she is not old enough to purchase alcohol. The Gazette blurred the personal details on her license.
NOT TAKING CHANCES ON Liquor department trial purchases done 400 times a year in county
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COMPLIANCE CHECKS 500
404
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pronounce it correctly. When she started testing restaurants, she was nervous, she said. That first night, more than a half dozen of the 20 restaurants she tested ended up serving her illegally. Montgomery County police work with underage volunteers such as Navarrete to check if restaurants and liquor establishments are selling to drinkers younger than 21, the minimum age to buy or drink alcohol in Maryland. “We don’t call it a sting operation,” said Kathie Durbin, chief of the licen-
STAFF WRITER
AND JACOB
BOGAGE
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
Valeria Navarrete remembers the first time she tested whether a restaurant would sell her alcohol illegally. She was an underage volunteer working with Montgomery County police. “I didn’t know anything or what to choose,” Navarrete said. She asked for a chardonnay, mostly because she knew what the wine looked like and how to
See 21, Page A-7
Of the 400 county businesses tested in the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, 111 sold alcohol to minors.
Checked
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ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH
548
550
200
111
100 0
2013 Percent in compliance
102 2012
72%
2011
75%
2010
79%
113
Probe challenges job requirements, praises health care and training
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ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITER
A Montgomery County grand jury investigation has found that local corrections facilities are old and in disrepair.
NEWS
COMMUNITY FARMING SEES GROWTH
Despite weather challenges and the battle of the bugs, the crops keep coming.
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The grand jury also questioned the pressure on inmates to find jobs as they leave jail and challenged the mindset of longtime employees. County officials concurred with some findings, such as the need for improvements to buildings, but strongly contested others. The grand jury investigation occurs annually and the findings are forwarded to the Montgomery County Council. This year’s report said the Mont-
SPORTS
‘IT WAS VERY MEMORABLE’ Kennedy High School graduate gets a day with tennis pros at the US Open.
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STAFF WRITER
See CORRECTIONS, Page A-9
See FELDMAN, Page A-9
71%
80%
SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF LIQUOR CONTROL
gomery County Detention Center at Seven Locks — the central processing unit for arrests — is “old and deteriorating.” “It would be helpful to officers to add security features such as cameras and mirrors,” the report said, recommending the construction of a new facility “as soon as possible.” “The building is ancient and all agree it needs replacement,” said Correction and Rehabilitation Director Arthur Wallenstein, adding that a
RYAN MARSHALL
new facility was already planned, but, “We are fully operational with no impediments to MCDC operations.” The grand jury also found several positives in the county’s correctional system, commenting that local prisoners have access to excellent health care, job training and education. “Prisoners in this county serving a sentence of less than 18 months are lucky to be incarcerated here, where
2008
Report: County corrections buildings need help n
Feldman named to Dist. 15 seat With the appointment of Del. Brian Feldman to fill the District 15 Senate seat vacated by Robert J. Garagiola, the race to fill Feldman’s delegate position will begin. Gov. Martin O’Malley on Thursday appointed Feldman (D) of Potomac to fill the seat. Garagiola announced in June that he would resign effective Sept. 1 to spend more time with his children. The 23 members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee who attended a meeting Sept. 10 in Kensington unanimously agreed on Feldman as their pick to fill the seat. One committee member was absent. Feldman’s promotion opens a delegate seat in District 15, which is expected to draw numerous candidates. Feldman was the early favorite to replace Garagiola, drawing support from District 15 colleagues Del. Kathleen Dumais (D) of Rockville and Del. Aruna Miller (D) of Darnestown, as well as
2009
80%
See LEGGETT, Page A-7
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120
110
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The potential for pollution of the Little Seneca Lake reservoir by proposed developments in Clarksburg and Boyds is something County Executive Isiah Leggett wants to know more about. “I need to go back and do more research, because this is pretty significant,” said Leggett (D) after taking a tour hosted by environmentalists on Sept. 11 of the Ten Mile Creek watershed that flows into Little Seneca Lake in Black Hill Regional Park. The lake, which has been tapped several times since its construction in 1984, is a backup drinking water supply for the Washington, D.C., area in times of drought. It is operated by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, based in Laurel. “I need to talk to the WSSC and [the county’s Department of] Environmental Protection to get a better hold on this,”
Delegate’s move to Garagiola’s Senate spot creates new vacancy
Failed
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VIRGINIA TERHUNE
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406
400
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STAFF WRITER
ONLINE EXTRA
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County executive wants more data on condition of reservoir
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