RAT PACK is BACK
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Revue stirs memories of legendary entertainers. A-11
The Gazette DAMASCUS | CLARKSBURG
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Advocates call for more holiday school closures
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Rice set to tackle traffic
Hoofin’ in Damascus
County Council vice president tells residents road projects will ease growing congestion
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Students, others say they face hard decision on Muslim holy days n
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STAFF WRITER
Standing in front of the Montgomery County Council Office Building in Rockville, Northwest High School senior Anhar Karim said he is one of many students in the county who have faced a hard decision related to two Muslim holidays. Karim said that when a holiday conflicts with school, he can either celebrate and miss class or go to school and miss the celebration. “We are forcing our students into an unreasonable decision,” said Karim, who is president of the Montgomery County Muslim Student Association. Karim and other speakers urged Montgomery County Public Schools to close when classes fall on Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr during a Monday press conference held by the Maryland chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations and the Equality for Eid Coalition. Eid al-Adha celebrates sacrifice to God and falls on Oct. 15 this year. Eid al-Fitr marks the
See CLOSURE, Page A-9
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Zainab Chaudry, vice president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Maryland chapter and cochairwoman of Equality for Eid, speaks at a news conference Monday at the county office building.
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Miriam Printz of Damascus leads the way with the Timeless Tappers, a senior tap dance group, as they perform at the Damascus Senior Recreation and Activities Center last week. Story, Page A-3.
Heard through the grapevine: Officials mull winery incubator n
Plans in early stages for upcounty facility
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SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER
Local and state officials are uncorking ideas that could juice up Montgomery County’s wine industry. Montgomery County Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park is working with wine experts and grape farmers to determine the feasibility of a winery incubator. The incubator, similar to the county’s existing business incubators, would facilitate a small business’ entry into the wine industry. Grape farmers or small wineries would bring their fruit to a central processing facility, saving them the equipment costs that may prevent
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See BUSINESS, Page A-9
See ZEIGLER, Page A-10
JUST THE RESULTS B-CC’s two-way football star doesn’t have the numbers, but has the results.
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See TRAFFIC, Page A-9
History fans invited to help in scientific sandbox for adults
Aspiring archaeologists can experience a day at a real excavation site, uncovering historic artifacts and a lot of dirt, here in Montgomery County. “You don’t have to be crazy to do this. We’ll teach you,” Vivian Eicke, an archaeological technician with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, said with a laugh. The commission has excavated the site around the Zeigler Log House in Little Bennett Park near Clarksburg since early 2009. It has gotten help from local volunteers, a children’s summer camp and a partnership with Montgomery College. Heather Bouslog, the director of
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Help is on the way for traffic congestion in Damascus and Clarksburg along Md. 27, Montgomery County Council Vice President Craig Rice told a roomful of constituents Wednesday evening in Damascus. Planning is complete on a project that will transform Md. 27 into a six-lane divided highway from Brink Road to Snowden Farm Parkway, as well as a two-lane roadway with turn lanes and an acceleration/deceleration lane running from Little Seneca Parkway to Skylark Road, said Rice (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown. With the planning phase complete, a process of putting in bids on the project should take three to six months before the project is started, Rice said. Construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months, Rice said. Many traffic challenges have been created by county budget issues, but hopefully the next few budgets should be able to provide money for more projects, he said. “Relief is coming,” Rice said about traffic on Md. 27. Rice represents the county’s Second District, which includes Darnestown, Montgomery Village, Germantown, Clarksburg and Damascus. Questions from the audience covered a variety of topics in Rice’s first community meeting in Damascus. Kathy Thornett, who said she works with a group that provides academic counseling to students, discussed the lack of public transportation options for young people in Damascus. Many youth feel “stuck” in Damascus because there’s not enough public transportation, Thornett said. Many students she talks to would like to go to Germantown for jobs, but can’t because
Volunteers dig up the past at Zeigler Log House
them from building their own facility, Elrich said. The facility may be a co-op, but its ownership has not been determined. “It’s not a true incubator, but it’s meant to promote the wine industry in Montgomery County,” he said. Elrich is looking to the recent growth of the wine and tourism industries in Virginia, which could serve as a model for the county’s own wine culture. The concept of a winery incubator is still in its early stages, but stakeholders around the county and the state are talking about the potential of Montgomery-grown wine. “This whole idea started as a way to encourage more people to grow grapes,” said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association. Currently, wineries’ demand for Maryland-grown grapes
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RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
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BY SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Heather Bouslog of Gaithersburg, director of the archaeological program, shows baby shoes, a medicine bottle and a spoon that were found at the Zeigler Log House near Clarksburg.
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