SHOWCASE Convention lets area students show off their potential. A-4
NEWS: Local police bring area children holiday cheer while building relationships. A-5
The Gazette NORTHERN MONTGOMERY COUNT Y
SPORTS: Covenant Life recruits son to take over basketball team from his father. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
25 cents
Spectrum site on the rise in Gaithersburg n
Mixed-use complex underway on Watkins Mill Road BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The two Paramount apartment buildings west of Frederick Road (Md. 355) are open and leasing, and work has begun on construction of the five-story Majestic building in the Spectrum project on the north side of Watkins Mill Road in Gaithersburg. The name Spectrum refers to the variety of services offered on the site, said Peter Henry, managing member of Henry Investment Partners, in an email. Henry Investment Partners joined Kline & Associates to form BP Realty Investments based in Potomac, which is developing Spectrum
as part of the overall Watkins Mill Town Center project. The Paramount at Watkins Mill includes 224 apartments in two buildings with underground parking and a retail area that includes a California Tortilla restaurant that opened on Dec. 13. The restaurant was a hit with Raul Llerena of Germantown, who works nearby at the Great Beginnings store, and with wife Katherine Llerena who likes the food. “You can mix what you want,” she said. The Majestic building now under construction will include more ground-floor restaurants and four stories of residential units, Henry said. The Spectrum development also
See CONSTRUCTION, Page A-8
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery County Police motor squad’s Santa Ride 2014, to benefit The Children’s Inn at NIH, stops at the Olney town center plaza on Dec. 17. Officer Robert Ladany and wife, Jackie, portray Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa’s troupe began its ride at the county police station in Germantown.
City considers naming Kentlands an arts and entertainment district
Santa roars into town St. Nick trades sleigh and bells for sirens and wheels BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
When Santa Claus cruised through Montgomery County on Dec. 17, he traded in his crew of trusty reindeer, preferring to roll with a brigade of more than two dozen county police on motorcycles. Santa — portrayed by Officer Robert Ladany of the department’s Germantown station — was astride a hog of his own. He led the pack as he traversed the county for the annual Santa Ride, a multistop tour that ends with a party at The Children’s Inn at NIH, a residential facility for seriously ill children at the National Institutes of Health
in Bethesda. Santa’s troupe began its ride at the county police station in Germantown, making its first stop at the Peppertree Children’s Center, a day-care center and preschool at the UpCounty Regional Services Center, also in Germantown. A group of children, none older than 5, waited at the curb to greet the man in red. After quizzing the tots on whether they’d been listening to their mommies and daddies, Ladany took a knee for a large group hug, then followed the children inside for picture taking. Angela Snider, who teaches pre-K at the center, said the level of excitement among her students had been “out of
Proposed boundary area centered around Main Street
control” in advance of Santa’s arrival. For days, students had been decorating her classroom with various holiday craft projects, including paper snowmen and menorahs, she said. “They know it’s coming.” The Santa Ride tradition dates back decades. Ladany said he’s been doing the ride for seven years, while his wife, Jackie Ladany, as Mrs. Claus, has been joining him for two years. She rode along in an unmarked police cruiser. “I don’t know how I became Santa, whether I volunteered or somebody asked me,” Ladany said, smiling. “We go around, we say hi, and they smile.
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BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
The city of Gaithersburg and the Kentlands Downtown Partnership hosted a community meeting Dec. 16 to discuss the possibility of applying to have the Kentlands arts community designated as an Arts and Entertainment District. A program of the Maryland State Arts Council, the districts are designed to help develop and promote community involvement, tourism and revitalization through tax-related incentives that attract artists, arts organizations and other creative enterprises, according to a city press
See SANTA, Page A-7
Toys for Tots gathers in Gaithersburg SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
In Germantown, Henrique Vissotto, a Spanish teacher at Clemente Middle School, and his students collected more than 200 toys for Montgomery County’s Toys for Tots. “I wanted to do more for our school, so I asked my students, ‘What can we do?’” Vissotto said. “A couple of the students said, ‘Why don’t we collect toys for some kids who don’t have toys?’” Vissotto spoke to Montgomery County’s Toys for Tots coordinator and was told to bring whatever was collected to the warehouse in
See TOYS, Page A-7
release. Pamela Dunne, a program director at the Maryland State Arts Council, attended the meeting and gave a presentation on the Arts and Entertainment District program. Among other things, she talked about the elements that make districts successful, the tax incentives that they carry and how they provide an overall benefit to the community.
See DISTRICT, Page A-8
Police say he wanted officers to shoot him
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BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Volunteer Kaniria Scott, 9, of Gaithersburg sorts incoming Toys for Tots donations for redistribution at a Gaithersburg warehouse.
A Gaithersburg man is facing assault charges after police say he threatened his wife and her family, barricaded himself in the basement of a house and tried to get police to shoot him Sunday evening. A Germantown woman called police at about 7:15 p.m. Sunday to report that her husband had threatened to kill her and some members of
her family, and that he had access to firearms, according to county police. About 10 minutes later, county police and Gaithersburg city police were sent to 25 Maryland Ave. in Gaithersburg, where the husband — 53-year-old Jeffrey Allan Flaherty — was believed to be staying. Flaherty was in the basement, and while police were on the staircase that connected the kitchen to the basement, there was an encounter between Flaherty and police during which a county police officer fired his weapon. No one was injured, according to police.
See BARRICADE, Page A-8
ENTERTAINMENT
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
n To learn more about the program, visit msac.org/ programs/arts-entertainmentdistricts.
Gaithersburg man charged with assault after barricade
Warehouse worth of donations is ready in time for Christmas
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BY
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS
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PARTY LIKE IT’S 2015!
Area venues prepare for revelers to ring in the new year. Page A-10
Volume 27, No. 52 Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette
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