Gaithersburg 082113

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‘HOLLA’ POINTS

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Sinbad talks about his life, influences and new show. A-13

The Gazette GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE

DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

New building, SAME TROJAN SPIRIT

Homes may lose wells to highway n

Goshen, Prathertown residents concerned about construction BY

SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER

Decades-old Gaithersburg communities along a possible Midcounty Highway extension may lose one of the characteristics that make their homes unique — their water source. County officials have presented several options for the construction of a Midcounty Highway extension, intended to relieve congestion on Md. 355, improve vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian access to employment centers, commercial districts and residential areas, and do so in an environmentally sensitive manner, according to the

See WELLS, Page A-8

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

(From left) Homeowners Peggy and Denver Saunders and Charles Tilford, president of the Greater Goshen Civic Association, look over maps showing proposed changes to Wightman Road that would affect the Saunders’ well.

Silver Spring, Herbert Hoover Middle School in Potomac and Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville. A number of elementary schools will open Monday with new additions, including Bradley Hills, Westbrook and Wyngate in Bethesda, and Georgian Forest and Viers Mill in Silver Spring. Though Gaithersburg High still was in prep mode on Monday, it already showed signs of the activity it will hold starting next week. As varsity and junior varsity football players practiced on the new turf field and a group of band

Humane society, MedImmune plans uncertain

The entrance of the new Gaithersburg High School on Tuesday as teachers and students prepare for the start of the school year next week. BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS

GAITHERSBURG HIGH, OTHER SCHOOLS WELCOME STUDENTS WITH CHANGE OF SCENERY n

STAFF WRITER

While Gaithersburg High School students are making their final preparations as the academic year draws closer, their school continued its own steps this week to get ready for them. The high school’s new building showed signs of a long-term project undergoing its final stage: “Wet Paint” signs cautioned passers-by Monday, minor construction work produced whirs and beeps, and tables and other furniture stood ready for arrangement. As she walked through the 422,000-square-

foot building on Monday, Christine HandyCollins, the high school’s principal, said everything will be ready before school starts Monday. “We’ll be ready to rock ’n’ roll,” she said. Gaithersburg High students will be among a group of county public school students passing through new doors this fall: Glenallan and Weller Road elementary schools in

Fears of fair fleeing unfounded Executive director: ‘The fairground is not for sale’ n

BY

STAFF WRITER

See FAIR, Page A-8

NEWS

Serving up a record n

The Big Cheese surpasses goal of 10,000 sandwiches

It’s not every Friday night that you eat the record-breaking grilled cheese sandwich. But on Friday at precisely 9:50 p.m., one day before the wrap-up of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, Gina Consumano of Rockville ordered and ate the 10,000th grilled cheese sandwich made at The Big Cheese. That sandwich put the fair at the 10,000-sandwich goal BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

See RECORD, Page A-9

The 65th fair at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds.

SPORTS

RESIDENTS CAN GET COOPED UP

MANDATORY TESTING FOR ATHLETES

Local business helps suburbanites get a taste of a fowl hobby.

Baseline concussion testing is officially part of all Montgomery County Public Schools sports programs.

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BY

BY KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITER

AGNES BLUM

Imagine retail stores where the carousel spins, cafés instead of piglet races and a 12-story apartment building where Old MacDonald’s Barn now stands. It could happen, thanks to last spring’s rezoning of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds. But the executive director of the fair, Martin Svrcek, says there are no plans to scrap the fair in favor of a neighborhood with

Rezoning for one approved; sketch plan for the other submitted n

See SCHOOL, Page A-9

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Automotive Calendar Celebrations Classified Community News Entertainment Opinion Sports Please

RECYCLE

SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER

The Humane Society of the United States and biotechnology company MedImmune are moving forward with largely undefined plans for their Gaithersburg locations. The City Council approved a rezoning plan for MedImmune. The council and planning commission will accept public comments on a sketch plan for the humane society. The humane society has not decided whether it will sell its property on Professional Drive or create a new headquarters there. “We think this is a five-year process, and this is Year One,” said Thomas Waite, the humane society’s chief financial officer, at a city hall meeting Monday evening. “If we don’t develop in Gaithersburg, we will most likely sell [the property] to a commercial developer.” According to city documents, the first of two development options would allow the organization to build up to 342,000 square feet of com-

See PLANS, Page A-9

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