DESIGNING WOMEN
&
Playwright’s characters reveal a rich female perspective throughout history. B-5
The Gazette GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
25 cents
Who wants
TO KNOW? n
Tenants, businesses, watchdogs, parents and more, records study shows BY
ANDREW SCHOTZ STAFF WRITER
Last year, the public asked local government bodies for copies of employees’ salaries, property inspection reports and information about a mysterious 1990 homicide. Motorists who received tickets from cameras pointed at their vehicles were an active subgroup, requesting information to help them fight their tickets. Watchdogs sought copies of expense reports showing how school system officials were spending
taxpayers’ money. Much of it was public and available through a simple request, under Maryland’s sunshine laws. Sometimes, the records were considered private and the request was denied. Maryland’s Public Information Act guides the release of public records. Local residents, law firms, out-of-state businesses and journalists filed hundreds of PIA requests last year with government bodies in Montgomery County. This year, The Gazette asked Montgomery County, Montgomery County Public Schools and 19 municipalities within the county for copies of all of the PIA requests they received in 2013. The newspaper asked for a copy of each request, the government’s reply and, when feasible, the information that
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery County men’s competitive softball league teammates practice Sunday afternoon at Kelley Park, a city park in Gaithersburg. Ryan Wozniak of Montgomery Village pitches to C.J. Franceski of Olney as their teammates await the fly balls.
SPRING ON THE HORIZON
See SUNSHINE, Page A-12
INSIDE AND ONLINE n How local governments did when asked for PIA information – chart, Page A-12
BUT WINTER WEATHER STILL HANGING AROUND IN MARCH
n Editorial: Information belongs to you – Page A-16 n The types of records sought locally through PIA in 2013 www.gazette.net
2013-14
SNOWFALL (IN INCHES)
They love this parade
Data are from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
15 12
n
14.2 11.9*
9.8
9
Sunday’s snow keeping sports teams from play
NORMAL
BY KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITER
8.0
6.8
6 3
2.9 3.0
1.9**
DECEMBER
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
* through Monday ** for all of March
MARCH*
SOURCE: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
It’s an annual rite of spring when baseball players take to the diamond for spring training. Well, Mother Nature apparently is not a fan of spring sports. Spring may start Thursday, but due to the harsh, wet winter that’s been hanging on through March, the county’s athletic fields, including local
parks, elementary and middle schools, are closed to teams that ordinarily would be starting their spring play now. Those fields have beckoned to players, as warmer weather crept into the county Friday and Saturday. But those same inviting fields found themselves blanketed by up to 10 more inches of snow Monday morning. The restriction will be reassessed daily but is in place to prevent surface damage, according to the county. The decision affects all the county’s
See SPRING, Page A-12
Student parking in city neighborhood frustrates residents Gaithersburg High students have not been able to park on-site because of lingering construction n
BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
BRIAN LEWIS/FOR THE GAZETTE
Kelvin Choi and Silvia Choi, 3, of Gaithersburg watch Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Gaithersburg. For more photos from the annual celebration, see Page A-11.
SPORTS
SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW
Baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and field start this week. See which teams are the favorites.
B-1
Residents in Gaithersburg’s Deer Park community have grown increasingly concerned that their once quiet neighborhood across the street from Gaithersburg High School has become a crowded and often noisy parking lot for students.
Automotive Business Calendar Celebrations Classified Entertainment Opinion School News Sports Please
B-15 B-13 A-2 B-7 B-11 B-5 A-16 A-14 B-1
RECYCLE
Tulip Drive homeowner Margaret Bielecki said the student parking near her home first became an issue in mid-2011, and has continued to cause a variety of problems ever since. “It’s continuing to get out of control all the time,” she said. The parking predicament likely stems from the modernization and restoration project taking place at the school at 314 S. Frederick Ave. While the modernization phase is over, the restoration part has not yet been completed. The new Gaithersburg High building is
finished and opened to students in August 2013, but parking lots and athletic facilities are still under construction as the remnants of the old school are being removed, according to Dana Tofig, spokesman for the school system. The project started in spring 2011. Finding street parking for residents in the neighborhood has become tricky, Bielecki said, because the students’ cars steadily line the road. For some who live on the street, it has become difficult to pull
See PARKING, Page A-11
SPECIAL SECTION
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