CAB DEBATE County to consider alt-taxi rule changes. A-8
The Gazette GERMANTOWN | CLARKSBURG DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
A $1 show horse SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
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Major road upgrades are scheduled to start this fall to serve the planned Cabin Branch outlet center at the southeast corner of Interstate 270 and Clarksburg Road (Md. 121). The project will involve widening the Clarksburg Road bridge over I-270 from four lanes to six, widening an existing northbound exit ramp and adding a new southbound onramp, according to plans. “This is the largest improvement we’ll be building for Cabin Branch,
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and better.” Moore Hebert has been riding since she was a little girl, going to camps for horseback riding before eventually
Germantown’s Thomas “Bobby” Smith, originally of Sierra Leone, decided years ago that he was never just going to sit back and watch his country suffer. As a member of the emergency shock trauma team at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Smith is no stranger to life or death situations. “Helping people, saving lives, is all I’ve been doing for years,” Smith said. Smith moved to the United States in 1989 from Sierra Leone, right before the civil war began and tore apart the country. He lived in Prince George’s County before moving to Germantown. A few years back, Smith lost three
See CHARITY, Page A-12
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See SHOW HORSE, Page A-12
Rice: Other financial pockets available besides school system’s fund balance BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
After maintaining larger fund balances in recent years, Montgomery County Public Schools currently has about $1.1 million in savings, a significantly smaller amount that some school officials say
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HEATHER LIPINSKI REEVES/THE GAZETTE
MAKING WAY FOR CABIN BRANCH Major road upgrades are scheduled to serve the planned Cabin Branch outlet center at the southeast corner of Interstate 270 and Clarksburg Road (Md. 121).
PHOTO FROM HOPE FOR LIVES IN SIERRA LEONE
Thomas “Bobby” Smith, a Germantown resident and founder of Hope for Lives in Sierra Leone, poses with boxes of medical supplies ready for shipping.
could present a challenge when the next budget season comes around. At the end of fiscal 2014 over the summer, the school system had $17.04 million left over, creating a total fund balance of $39.34 million, according to the school system. The Montgomery County Council used about $38.2 million to help fund the system’s $2.28 billion budget this fiscal year. That figure is “significantly more” than the amount moved last year from the reserves to the budget, said Thomas Klausing,
director of the school system’s department ofmanagement,budgetandplanning.Atthe end of fiscal 2013, the school system held a balance of $49.2 million — about $27 million of which was put toward fiscal 2014. A Sept. 11 memo to the Montgomery County Council’s education committee said the school system’s “large cumulative year-to-year fund balances of recent years were unusual and were largely the result of savings plans and other atypical
See BUDGET, Page A-12
OH, DANNY BOY!
Volume 27, No. 42, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette
Play delves into the big life of a little person. B-5
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BY SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
people he was close with in the span of one week; his father, his cousin and his cousin’s husband all passed away. When Smith went back to Sierra Leone to be with his family during that tragic time, he saw just how bad it had gotten. He explained that he is almost 50 years old and people he saw there more than a decade younger looked exponentially older than he did. “If I was in Sierra Leone, I would be dead and the Ebola thing right now is making it worse,” Smith said. “I’ve been determined since then to help my people.” Smith founded Hope for Lives in Sierra Leone in 2011. The first thing the organization did for the people of Sierra Leone was build two fishing boats to give to a community in Murraytown, near Freetown, which has helped feed many people with its weekly
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Changes to roads New ramp Pavement removal Planned intersection
Hilary Moore Hebert, of Germantown rides Why Not, a Hanoverian gelding owned by Janna Dyer, at the Dark Horse Stables in Rocky Ridge. serious, really dedicated, concentrated rider” and matched him with Moore Hebert. “It’s been pretty fun, it’s been an amazing, fun ride seeing their partnership develop,” Dyer said. “He just got better
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See CONSTRUCTION, Page A-13
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Germantown man sends help and supplies to his home country
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Hope for Sierra Leone starts at home n
Md. 121 bridge to be widened to six lanes
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hen Janna Dyer bought Willy for $1, she had no idea if he would ever become a show horse. Fast forward about one year and Hilary Moore Hebert, of Germantown, will be taking Willy to the United States Dressage Federation’s National Championships from Nov. 6-9 in Kentucky. “When he walked in the door I had no idea what I had, but I believe in the horse. I always believe in the horse more than what the people tell me about him,” said Dyer, who owns Dark Horse Dressage Stable in Rocky Ridge, Frederick County. The people who sold Willy to Dyer for $1 did so because they were unsure what to do with what they classified as a misbehaving horse. “It was owned by an adult amateur, it had taken advantage of the adult amateur and learned some bad tricks and developed some issues,” Dyer said. She explained that with some gentle training Willy began to get more comfortable with the physical demands of the sport and began to understand that 45 minutes of work would allow him hours of grazing later. “He had some real issues, but the issues were sort of black and white. He would test the rider and see what he could get away with and then if he couldn’t he would back down,” Dyer said. “He was never what I would call dangerous, but he was sort of the alpha in the relationship.” Dyer knew that Willy needed a “really
Roadwork set for I-270 this fall in Clarksburg
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Germantown equestrian is taking horse she bought for $1 to USDF National Championships
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SPORTS: Military life helped Clarksburg senior adapt to playing multiple positions. B-1
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NEWS: Local Naval Academy grad trades one Germantown for another. A-4
Two Kingsview students struck by slow-moving car n
Germantown traffic signal set for overhaul BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Two Kingsview Middle School students were crossing Clopper Road (Md. 117) in Germantown at 7:35 a.m. on Oct. 7 when they were struck by a driver turning left from Kingsview Road into the intersection. Luckily, the students were not seriously injured, said James D’Andrea, principal at the nearby Kingsview Middle School on Kingsview Road. “The students were transported to the hospital and released with minor injuries,” he
said. The students were doing the right thing when they were struck, D’Andrea said. They had pressed the walk button and had started to cross with the walk light. However, a green light appeared for the driver turning left from Kingsview Road at the same time. “The signal light turns green at the same time as the walk signal,” D’Andrea said. Clopper Road is a state road and Kingsview Road is a county road. D’Andrea said the school system’s Department of Transportation is working with the county Police Department and the State Highway Administration to adjust the
See STUDENTS, Page A-13