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DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
gift of life
The
25 cents
Gaithersburg woman to give co-worker kidney
BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
Two days before her July 4 birthday, Jacquia Hutching was finally given the present she had been wanting for a long time: the hope of a second chance at life. After battling kidney failure and waiting for a transplant for more than a year, the Clarksburg woman found out that a co-worker who had offered to give the life-saving donation was a match. “I was so overwhelmed. There were so many tears and many mixed emotions,” Hutching said. “How do you thank somebody for that? I don’t know.” Hutching and Britney Mabra, 23, of Gaithersburg became close friends earlier this year after previously meeting each other at the Silver Spring child care center where they both work as teachers. Hutching has faced health challenges since she was born, entering the world as a 1-pound, 2-ounce premature baby. She started having high blood pressure at 8 years old, and was diagnosed with diabetes at age 14. “The high blood pressure and
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BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Neighborhoods stand united against crime Police will be on hand at Gaithersburg, Montgomery Village to answer questions n
BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
Several Gaithersburg and Montgomery Village neighborhoods will join more than 16,000 communities worldwide on Aug. 5 as they take a stand against crime as part of the National Night Out campaign. Eight area communities will
Gaithersburg to serve as test site for effort aimed at helping low-income residents BY KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Britney Mabra of Gaithersburg (right) will donate her kidney to Jacquia Hutching of Clarksburg.
See KIDNEY, Page A-9
Program may ease access to laptops
host events to increase drug prevention awareness, generate support for anti-crime programs, encourage residents to be involved in their communities and send a message that neighborhoods and businesses are organized to fight back against crime, according to a city news release. Local law enforcement agencies, elected officials, civic groups and other neighborhood organizations can also partake in the observance. The following communities will host activities in honor of National Night Out:
• Emory Grove Village and Washington Square, 6 to 9 p.m., 8201 Emory Grove Road, Gaithersburg • Walnut Hill, 6 to 8 p.m., Washington Grove Elementary, 8712 Oakmont St., Gaithersburg • Saybrooke, 6 to 9 p.m., 702 Saybrooke Oaks Blvd., Gaithersburg • Quince Orchard Park, 7 to 9 p.m., 500 Highland Ridge Ave., Gaithersburg • Brighton Village Apartments, 6 to 9 p.m., 345 West Side Drive, Gaithersburg • McKendree I and II, 6:30 to 8
p.m., Forest View Place, Montgomery Village • Cider Mill, 6:30 to 8 p.m., 18205 Lost Knife Circle, Montgomery Village Montgomery Meadows will also participate by having residents turn on their porch lights to show community support for deterring crime and maintaining a safe neighborhood. Officers from the Gaithersburg Police Department will be stationed at each gathering in the city to hand out brochures and small
See NIGHT OUT, Page A-9
Laptops. Once considered luxury items, the portable personal computers have become ubiquitous household staples and Montgomery County’s Housing Opportunities Commission is piloting a program to help its low-income residents acquire the devices. Known as HOC Connects, the program will provide the residents served by the commission with access to an interest-free loan to purchase a laptop through its technology purchase program. Loans will range up to three-year, with monthly payments of about $20 to $30, said spokesman Scott Ellinwood. Ellinwood said the commission will pilot the program at its Stewartown Homes complex in Gaithersburg this summer, with the hope of offering it countywide this year. “If [the pilot] goes as expected, we’d like to expand it to our entire multifamily portfolio in time for holiday shopping,” he said. A similar pilot for commission employees to purchase laptops was very successful, he said.
See LAPTOPS, Page A-9
School board members give up credit cards n
New guidelines adopted on allowable expenses BY
Gaithersburg’s new website designed to stand out n
City hopes to attract outside businesses
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The City of Gaithersburg plans to launch a new website by the end of August that will focus solely on economic development opportunities in the city. “We hope to go live in the next 30 days,” said Tom Lonergan, the
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
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city’s economic development director, at a City Council work session on Monday. Gaithersburg’s economic development services fall within the city manager’s office but until now, the services provided have not had their own website distinct from the city’s recently revamped site, Lonergan said. The intent of the website — growgaithersburg.com — is to promote the city as a place for businesses to locate, relocate and
NEWS B-10 A-2 B-6 A-11 A-8 A-10 B-1
expand. Employers, both large and small, provide jobs and also help build the city’s tax base. City staffers plan to launch the site internally in City Hall this week before going live on the Web for the public, said Sharon Disque, business services coordinator for Gaithersburg, at the session. It’s important that the Gaithersburg site stand out, because business and real estate professionals looking for commercial space typically get 90 percent of the informa-
MAINSTREAM MEDITATION
Gaithersburg nonprofit provides holistic health care.
A-3
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
tion they need from databases and websites, she said. “They eliminate hundreds of sites before they even contact one,” Disque said. Staffers said that what they believe will set the website apart is the amount of information it contains, much of it easily downloaded, about the city — available space, demographics, top employers, regulations, financial incentives.
Montgomery County school board members are turning in their credit cards, after the board unanimously voted Monday to change its expense guidelines and procedures. The changes had been recommended by an ad hoc committee comprising board President Philip Kauffman, Vice President Patricia O’Neill and member Michael Durso. Board members will now need to be pre-approved for nonlocal travel and the school system will not pay for hotel stays within a 50-mile radius of its Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville, except in “exigent circumstances.” Board
See WEBSITE, Page A-8
See CREDIT CARDS, Page A-8
Volume 55, No. 31 Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette
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