ICY RESCUE Dog recovered after fall into Gaithersburg pond. A-3
SPORTS: Gazette previews high school baseball, softball, track and boys lacrosse seasons. B-1
The Gazette GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Public safety employees honored for bravery Special award for first responders to Gaithersburg plane crash n
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Ten Montgomery County public safety employees were recognized with a special award by the county’s Chamber of Commerce for their outstanding service while responding to the plane crash on Drop Forge Lane in Gaithersburg that took the lives of six people on Dec. 8. A special Public Safety Unit Citation was presented to five first responders from the 6th District police station in Montgomery Village, four members of the Paramedic Engine 728 in Gaithersburg and a deputy from the Sheriff’s Office. Also presented were eight awards for valor in response to incidents around the county during 2014, as well as a community service award.
See AWARD, Page A-8
Watkins Mill Class of 2015 takes first win in 25 years
BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
On Thursday evening at Watkins Mill High School, brother was pitted against brother. Coach against player. Students against staff. And most importantly, the students won. The Watkins Mill High School class of 2015 made history last week by becoming the first class to beat the staff in their annual Student Government Association’s staff vs. student basketball
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
(From left) Award winners Firefighter III Christopher Crown, Firefighter Paramedic Adam Dougherty and Master Firefighter Clark Oliver in front of Paramedic Engine 728 at the Derwood station on Tuesday. Not pictured is Captain Carl Mauney. The four were honored at the 41st annual county Chamber of Commerce recognition dinner for being the first responders to a plane crash near the Gaithersburg Airpark in December.
game since its inception 25 years ago. With two minutes left in the game, students were winning 61 to 60, but the tension in the room rose after the staff was granted three foul shots. Luckily, for the students at least, they missed and the students were able to pull even farther into the lead with some foul shots of their own. In the end, students beat the staff 65 to 60 and stormed the court in celebration. Lauren Squier, the SGA advisor and a social studies teacher at the school, explained before the game that anyone can participate, both boys and girls, of any skill level. The only rule is that students must be seniors.
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
A bill sponsored by Montgomery County lawmakers would update the state’s law on access to public inforAn overhaul mation. of Maryland’s The bill is sponPublic sored by Information Act is overdue Sen. Jamie B. Raskin n Page A-12 (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park and Del. Bonnie L. Cullison (D-Dist. 19) of Aspen Hill. Maryland’s Public Informa-
“A lot of seniors see it as a culminating event for their senior year. They watch all these years,” Squier said. Ed Graf, an engineering teacher at Watkins Mill, has been playing in the staff vs. student game for 10 years. “It’s nice to get out of the classroom and see them in a competitive environment,” Graf said at the start of the fourth quarter. He added with a laugh that the students “do like to run their mouths, so it’s nice to win.” However, it was the students that got the last laugh on Thursday. “This is the year I want to win, I put a lot of effort into this,”
Dharik Shamsudeen, 17, said right before hoping back into the game at the start of the fourth quarter. Shamsudeen not only played in the game, but was a student coach alongside fellow senior Nana Arhin. He competed against his older brother, Azhar, who is the assistant coach for the basketball team and played on the staff team. Priye Roberts, 17, said that he always wanted to play against one of his favorite teachers. “Ever since freshman year I thought it would be a cool experience,” Roberts said during the beginning of the fourth quarter.
See GAME, Page A-10
Automotive Business Calendar Classified A&E Obituaries Opinion Sports
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tion Act was passed four decades ago, with no serious reform since then, Raskin said Monday. Testimony on the bill revealed “radical variations” in what people are charged and how long it takes to get a response, he said. Raskin said the bill aims to simplify and improve the process of accessing public information. “Government by the people depends on the truth being available,” Raskin said. The bill also changes how local governments can charge for copies when the request is not for a commercial purpose. A “reasonable” fee would have to
closely match the actual cost of making photocopies. Also, it would allow up to five hours of search time at no cost, instead of the current two hours. The bill would set up a fivemember board to analyze complaints that a local government or state agency charged an unreasonable fee of more than $250 for access to records. The board would include members representing custodians, which is a change since the bill was first introduced. Governments wanted to be represented on the board, which was a good idea, Raskin said. Under the Maryland Open Meetings Act, the state has a similar compliance board to consider complaints. That board’s authority is limited to advisory opinions. The PIA bill also would create an ombudsman to handle
other issues, such as a custodian not responding in an appropriate time. The ombudsman could helping people narrow requests that may be overly broad. Governments wanted to be sure that complying with the new law didn’t interrupt the other work of their agencies, Raskin said. While he is sympathetic, he argued that getting information to the public is also an important function of government. A hearing on the bill was held March 6 in the Senate’s Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. Maryland’s lack of oversight on governments’s response to Public Information Act requests has led to a culture in which requests are seen as a nuisance, said Jennifer Bevan-Dangel,
See BILL, Page A-10
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INDEX B-11 A-11 A-2 B-8 B-4 A-9 A-12 B-1
Center would be for employees only
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
Proposed changes would impose limit on fees, enforce compliance BY
MedImmune presents plans for child care center BY
Bill aims to give public greater access to records n
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Student vs. staff basketball game brings surprises n
NEWS: Gaithersburg woman collects personal care products for homeless. A-4
STILL AS SWEET Homegrown star Maggie Rose takes to the stage at Bethesda Blues and Jazz.
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Volume 28, No. 11 Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
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RECYCLE
The Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council meeting on Monday was host to a public hearing with representatives from MedImmune to discuss plans to build a childcare center on their campus. Company planners, as well as the architecture and engineering firms for the project for the Gaithersburg-based biotech company, which is owned by AstraZeneca, spoke to the public and council about their plans. Erik Morrison, the associate director of master planning at MedImmune, and Liz Huntley, MedImmune’s director of corporate citizenship and community relations, represented the company at the meeting with help from Meryl Nistler, an architect with Studio MLA, and Brian Donnelly, a civil engineer with Macris, Hendricks and Glascock, P.A. The proposed building would be on the MedImmune campus at 501 Orchard Ridge
Drive and be no larger than 20,000 square feet and two stories at its tallest point. The center would have room for 180 children primarily ranging in age from “0 to 6,” according to Morrison. Nistler explained that the building would be built with sustainable materials in order to accent the land it is on. The building would have water conservation tools and possibly water collecting tools and use as much natural light as possible. Nistler highlighted the fact that the building would also be used as a teaching tool for children on sustainability. The new building would be considered an accessory to the campus, as the cafeteria and fitness center are, because it is only available to MedImmune employees. Therefore, it is permitted in the MXD Zone without amendment, according to the presentation. The planned parking lot will have 52 spaces, some of which are specifically for employees and others are for parents. The childcare center would have jobs for around 40 people, with 32 working during peak hours. County councilmembers
See MEDIMMUNE, Page A-10
Initial PARCC test reactions mixed Interim superintendent said implementation going well; others have complaints
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BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
As students and schools across Montgomery County Public Schools tackle new state tests, feedback has been a mixed bag. This is the first time the school system is fully implementing Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers tests. Schools are following a state-dictated window of March 2 to 26. The first group of tests are “performance-based assessment” that are longer and more complicated than “end-of-year assessment” students will take this spring. Students in third through eighth grades will take math and English language arts tests. High school students studying Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and English 10 will take corresponding tests. Some have talked about problems they’ve seen in this
year’s rollout. Others have seen it as a smooth transition for the tests, which replace the Maryland School Assessments and some High School Assessments. Ananya Tadikonda, an eighth-grader at Clemente Middle School in Germantown, said Friday that she had not yet taken the tests, but most of her friends who had taken them thought they were “relatively easy.” While more difficult than the Maryland School Assessments, the tests were not as hard as they expected, she said. Ananya, the president of Montgomery County Junior Councils, said she wasn’t “too worried” about PARCC because her teachers have prepared her. The switch from paper and pencil to a computer is “a little bit of an adjustment” for students, but not a hindrance, Ananya said. Richie Yarrow, president of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, which represents high school students, said he heard “a broad range” of student reactions to the tests.
See TEST, Page A-10