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The Gazette GERMANTOWN | POOLESVILLE | BOYDS
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Wednesday, April 23, 2014
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Poolesville plans to replace critical water infrastructure n
Dollar General and Boar’s Head to fund two pipes BY
SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER
As Poolesville looks to grow and attract more businesses, future development along part of Fisher Avenue hinges on a new water line relocation project approved on Monday. The drainage pipes where the Dollar General and Boar’s Head warehouse are slated to open are not big enough to support the development. Replacement of the pipes is necessary for development behind those businesses to remain an option in the future as well. A water main line along Fisher Avenue also must
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Sharon Miller of Boyds does spring trimming of plants at the Boyds Marc stop on Monday. She has taken care of the landscaping on a volunteer basis there for 22 years.
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County looks at projects to aid Clarksburg commuters
Plans include additional parking at Boyds station, Ride On bus service BY
SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER
Commuters in Boyds and Clarksburg may soon have more options on how they get to work. Planners are looking into Ride On bus service between the two areas, better pedestrian and bike access to the Boyds Marc
station, and about 50 more parking spaces at the station. The bus line “would be a meet-theMarc type service,” Manager of Operations Planning for Ride On Philip McLaughlin explained. It would bring commuters from Clarksburg, likely from the new Cabin Branch developments, to Boyds to ride the train. County transportation department officials presented plans for an expanded parking and a bus turn-around on a county-owned lot about two blocks from the station at the intersection of Clopper and Clarksburg roads, during a meeting in January with the Boyds Civic Association.
See POOLESVILLE, Page A-11
Student working on science fiction trilogy
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be moved down two feet for stormwater management updates, according to John Strong, Poolesville’s town engineer. . “Nothing is going to happen — unless you move that water line down — on that whole side of town over there,” Town Manager Wade Yost said. One 18-inch pipe must be replaced with two 21-inch pipes in the 9.2 acre drainage area. A separate eight-inch water main along Fisher Avenue must be moved down two feet to allow for grading and other stormwater management updates. The town commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to allocate $45,000 to move the pipe and for other
Teen is an immigrant from West Africa
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Eighth-grader Adjeoda Tekpor of Germantown likes to read science fiction books— he also likes to write them. His first book, “The Chronicles of Stranger,” in 2011, was about an everyday boy named Stranger who is struck by lightning and develops magical powers, which he uses to battle demons when he’s not home with his family. So successful was he that the gods – a mix of Egyptian and medieval Celtic deities -send him to camp to face more
Currently there is no Ride On service to or from the Marc station. According to the Maryland Transit Administration, about 12 to 16 residents use the Boyds Marc station daily. The station has 15 parking spaces. The Department of Transportation began looking into the possibility of expanding transit in the Boyds area in 2013 following requests from the Boyds Civic Association. In March, County Council President Craig Rice recommended funding for studies to continue. For phase one,
See ACCESSIBLE, Page A-11
obstacles and tests in the 2013 sequel, “The Blade of Anubis,” a reference to Egyptian god of the underworld. This summer he plans to work on the third book in which Stranger trains with the goddess Ma’at and continues to battle the forces of Chaos and Evil using his resourcefulness and his magic sword, Tan. “The next one will be a lot longer,” said Tekpor, 13. “I’m trying to build up how I write and the length of the book and the quality.” The Tekpor family emigrated to the United States from Togo in West Africa when Adjeoda was 2 years old. While a fifth-grader at Neels-
See TRILOGY, Page A-11
Germantown girl serves as community ambassador n
RIO Washingtonian Center hosts March of Dimes walk Saturday BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Kinsey Walker of Germantown spent the first two months of her life in the neonatal intensive-care unit at the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. She only weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces when she was born, 12 years later, she continues to thrive. Now she’s also old enough to also understand that some infants don’t survive, which is one reason why she is working so hard to
drum up support for the annual March for Babies walk in Gaithersburg on Sunday. “It’s very important to me,” said Kinsey, who was named as this year’s community ambassador for the March of Dimes walk in Montgomery County. “I’ve seen what [family] friends go through when they lose a baby and it’s hard,” she said. “I really want to help.” Based in White Plains, N.Y., the March of Dimes organizes walks around the country to raise money to fund research into preventing premature births, birth defects and infant mortality. The Gaithersburg walk around the lake at the RIO Washingtonian Center is one of 11 walks in Maryland this weekend and next.
Among them is a walk in Prince George’s County on Saturday in Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro. There were 1,445 babies born prematurely in Montgomery County in 2011, said Jennifer Abell, director of the suburban Maryland division of the nonprofit, in an email. When Kinsey was approaching her sixth birthday, her mother, Dana Walker, suggested that they participate in a March of Dimes walk. “I said, ‘Why not walk to honor your life and celebrate it,’” said Walker. In the years since, mother and daughter have participated in marches in Washing-
See AMBASSADOR, Page A-11
NEWS
SPORTS
Council members Riemer and Navarro are teaming up to propose a sidewalk snow removal plan.
County athletes work to earn qualifying spots at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
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PHOTO BY MELISSA VANDERSLICE
Kinsey Walker, 12, of Germantown, holding her family dog Sky, is this year’s Montgomery County ambassador for the March for Babies walk on Sunday at the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg. Organized by the March of Dimes, the event raises money for research into preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
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