A LOOK AHEAD Will the transit center finally open in 2015? A-3
The Gazette
NEWS: Amateurs learn from the pros in BSO’s Rusty Musicians program. A-3
SOUTHERN MONTGOMERY COUNT Y
SPORTS: Katie Ledecky leads the Top 10 Montgomery County sports stories of 2014. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
25 cents
Town Center in Rockville faces the competition
Dancing the year away
New entertainment destinations pose challenge to downtown district n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Margaret Kolb of Silver Spring and Henry Hodges of Bethesda get some instructions from dance teacher Marc Shepanek of Washington, D.C., during Saturday night’s swing dance with the Daryl Davis Band at the Spanish Ballroom in Glen Echo Park.
Remembering the Battle of the Bulge Decades later, sharp details of bloody World War II conflict endure n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
In this photograph of a wartime photo, Mike Levin of Silver Spring stands on the tail of a German plane that he and several other soldiers brought down near Halle, Germany, in early 1945. Levin says the plane tried to strafe them. When it came around for a second try, they brought it down with small-arms fire.
At age 95, Mike Levin recently flew to Europe for international commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, which historians call the largest, bloodiest World War II conflict involving U.S. troops. The events were marked by appearances by the king and queen of Belgium and the grand duke of Luxembourg, who welcomed Levin and other veterans of the battle. But it was touring the towns and visiting cemeteries that affected him most. “That [1944-45] winter was very cold. There were three inches of snow on the ground and higher drifts,” recalled Levin, of Silver Spring. “Though the places have changed, the names of the towns bounced right at me. It was very moving to have these memories brought back.” That winter was among the coldest on record for Belgium and Luxembourg.
Sandy Spring project links with songwriters and N.Y. school BY
TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
Fourth-graders at Sandy Spring Friends School are learning about local history through a program that connects the
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
Quaker school with Newcomb (N.Y.) Central School. “In my Backyard, Geographies of Slavery and Freedom” encourages students to delve into the history of their own area. It partners schools so children in different parts of the country can learn and share information about slavery and the Underground Railroad together. “It’s a really cool history project that en-
Levin holds two medals given to him on his recent trip to Luxembourg and Belgium for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. From mid-December 1944 through the last week of January 1945, Levin and more than 600,000 other U.S. soldiers, along with thousands more from Great Britain, Canada, Belgium and France, fought Adolf Hitler’s army in zero-degree conditions. They were often hungry and dog-tired,
See BATTLE, Page A-9
gages the kids,” said fourth-grade teacher Linda Garrettson. “This is the second year that we have participated.” The class worked with the professional songwriting duo Magpie — comprising Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino — for about five days, writing a song about the connection between abolitionists John
See HISTORY, Page A-9
A&E B-10 A-2 B-7 A-12 A-10 A-11 B-1
WEAVING ‘REVERENCE’ Themes of history, storytelling and more threaded through BlackRock exhibit.
A-12
See CENTER, Page A-9
Old Georgetown Road won’t be widened after all
Students take musical tack to learn local history n
Rockville’s Town Center needs to stay vibrant to compete with other entertainment centers around the county, one developer recently told the city’s mayor and council. The competitive environment for the downtown area has changed in the past year, Marc Dubick, president of Duball LLC, told the mayor and council in November. With the Pike & Rose development in North Bethesda, Crown Farm and Rio in Gaithersburg and a new food court and movie theater at Bethesda’s Westfield Montgomery mall, all within about a 10-minute drive from Town Center, downtown Rockville faces new competition for its optimal customers, Dubick said. He said he knew of several Town Center businesses that have closed in the past few months, and he predicted that more would close. The county also is moving its offices of Permitting Services and Environmental Services from Rockville Pike to Wheaton, which will meaning fewer em-
ployees and customers in Rockville, Dubick said. Dubick made his comments while trying to persuade the council to allow Duball to expand the number of residential units in a planned project in Town Center. It’s not enough for Town Center to draw people off Interstate 270 and up from Potomac, Dubick said. The area needs a core group of residents living in downtown Rockville, he said. The mayor and council ultimately approved the Duball project expansion, although they agreed to a smaller reduction in the number of parking spaces for the project than the developer was seeking. Caya Cagri, owner of The Cottage Monet on Maryland Avenue in Town Center, said Monday that an active Town Center is “super important” to her business. “No one wants to go somewhere where there isn’t vibrancy,” Cagri said. But she said it’s also important that other areas do well. The more successful various town centers are, the better for merchants in all the similar areas, she said. “If it fails there, then that means the concept fails,” Cagri said. Rick Hood, owner of Daw-
Volume 27, No. 32, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette
White Flint-watchers feared a wider, pedestrian-unfriendly road n
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
Old Georgetown Road in North Bethesda won’t be the major eight-lane highway some neighbors had feared, according to the county. Montgomery County announced last week that its Department of Transportation had persuaded the State Highway Administration to make Old Georgetown Road near Rockville Pike into a narrower road suitable for a pedestrian-friendly urban area. The new plan has two lanes going in each direction on the road, plus a shared left-turn lane, according to a county news release. The county is planning to extend nearby Hoya Street be-
tween Montrose Parkway and Old Georgetown Road in a configuration that can take some traffic off Old Georgetown Road, the release said. The state, which has authority over lane configurations on Old Georgetown Road, agreed that would allow it to narrow Old Georgetown Road as the sector plan for the area recommended. The county also plans to build bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road between Hoya Street and Grand Park Avenue, the release said. Previous state plans indicated that Old Georgetown Road might be widened, and the Friends of White Flint advocacy group launched a letter-writing campaign telling officials that wider roads would be unfriendly to cyclists and pedestrians, who would have to cross wider intersections, The Gazette previously reported. ewaibel@gazette.net
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