EMINENT DOMAIN Committee OKs Yegher farm land annex. A-5
The Gazette
NEWS: Female a cappella group Misbehavin’ Maidens performs locally. A-7
NORTHERN MONTGOMERY COUNT Y
SPORTS: New generation of female track athletes steps forward at Northwest. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
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Gaithersburg man pleads guilty in murder-for-hire Ph.D recipient asked undercover cop to kill ex-wife n
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DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
Prosecutors say a man who tried to hire someone to kill his ex-wife may have been well-spoken and educated, but was really “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” with a violent past. On Friday, Ndokey Peter Enow, 38, of Swan Stream Court in Gaithersburg, pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation to commit first-degree murder, a charge which can draw a penalty of life in prison. Attorneys on both sides
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Fifth-grader Ilyes Ouldbrahim (second from left) stands with a clipboard in front of Candlewood Elementary School in Derwood on Friday checking off a list of buses as they arrive with students. The school recently reopened after a long renovation project.
Candlewood Elementary School reopens after more than a year of construction SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
After 18 months of construction and renovations, Candlewood Elementary School in Derwood reopened its doors for students’ first day back on Monday, Jan. 5, and promptly closed its doors for an unexpected snow day on Tuesday, Jan. 6. “I think the students were so excited. A couple of the students had said to me, ‘We didn’t want a snow day right away, we wanted to be in our school!’”
said Principal Linda B. Sheppard. Sheppard, her staff and students started the new year in their old school, leaving behind Emory Grove in Gaithersburg, the temporary spot they had been attending during construction, and welcoming their beautifully upgraded building. “Basically, [Candlewood] was an old school,” Sheppard said. “It was just a one-story, small, circular building. The heating system was getting older; we started to get leaks in the building.” Sheppard said the new building is
See ENOW, Page A-5
Gaithersburg names new finance director
Back to class
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of the case agreed that Enow should be given a 40-year prison sentence with 20 years suspended. Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Feinstein Enow told the court Friday that Enow had a history of domestic violence and had laughed as he talked to an undercover police officer — whom he believed he was hiring to kill for him — about murdering the mother of his
n
Position has been vacant since December 2013 BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
not only two stories and bigger, with capacity increasing from about 430 students to 740 students, but it also is energy efficient and environmentally friendly. “A lot of new schools are getting a green roof; we also have the green roof. It’s composed of little, small planters that soak up the rainwater,” Sheppard said. In addition to the much-needed modernizations to a building that
Gaithersburg finances will soon be in a new set of hands, as City Manager Tony Tomasello announced Jan. 6 the appointment of Stephanie Walker as the next director of the city’s Department of Finance and Administration. The position has been vacant since the retirement of Harold Belton in December 2013, and since then, Comptroller Tina Smith has been serving as the acting director, according to a city news release.
See CANDLEWOOD, Page A-5
“Throughout the recruitment process, Ms. Walker really impressed us with the depth of her knowledge of local government finance, particularly her abilWalker ity to articulate complex issues and suggest potential strategies to address them,” Tomasello said in the release. “We’re confident she has the skills needed to move our organizational goals forward.” Walker most recently served as the chief financial officer for the
See DIRECTOR, Page A-5
Northwest’s Ulysses program stands out County approves child n
care selection process
Senior projects focus on student research
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VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
“Northwest High is the most studied school in the county,” jokes Suzanne Borenzweig, program coordinator for the Germantown school’s unique Ulysses program. “Every year we study ourselves,” said Borenzweig, who oversees the four-year program in which seniors do a semester-long research project that can involve polling fellow students. The projects enable students to ask and answer their own questions, which typically arise from their own lives and experiences. “We offer guidance and structure to help them turn whatever interest they may have into an academic project,”
See PROGRAM, Page A-10
Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
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LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Council has passed a new bidding and selection process for before- and after-school child care providers that operate in public schools. Some council members, however, are developing a larger plan for early child care and education in the county. They want to create a county child care office and ensure appropriate training and other services for Spanish-speaking providers. Under the new regulation, which went into effect Jan. 3, a public school that has or is looking for a child care provider will go through a selection
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Northwest High School student Lauren Oxenford explains her Ulysses research project about female teenage bullying to peers and faculty during a fair on Thursday at the Germantown school.
ENTERTAINMENT
INDEX
Navarro, Riemer working toward larger changes
INFESTATION Rock band Papa Roach joins Seether for a show at Fillmore Silver Spring.
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Volume 27, No. 55 Two sections, 24 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette
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RECYCLE
process every seven years to determine who will run the before- and after-school programs. The regulation requires a school administrator to form a selection committee to consider applications based on factors including services, proposed budget, staffing plan and a state quality rating. The county’s Community Use of Public Facilities office will run the process, working with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and Montgomery County Public Schools. The new regulation addresses conflicts of interest, an appeals process and opportunities for parent feedback on providers and desired services. The regulation has a sunset
See CHILD CARE, Page A-6
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