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The Gazette OLNEY
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
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Olney students have recycling contest in bag
Sun shines on Olney Days Linda Shapiro of Olney sports a hat to ward off the midday sun while Zenab Toure of Silver Spring and her 11-yearold daughter Fatim, a student at Earle B. Wood Middle School, take refuge from the sun under an umbrella. They watched the 31st annual Olney Days Parade from the curb along Spartan Road in Olney. Below right, Kurt and Nancy Elmgren of New Hope Presbyterian Church in Derwood hand out balloons at the Rock the Block Party to close Olney Days.
School handily wins countywide competition to reuse plastic n
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When Olney Elementary School signed on for a recycling competition, staff members and students thought it was one more way to make a difference. They were surprised by how easy it was. In its first year in the Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge, Olney Elementary collected more than five times as much plastic as any of the other 14 Montgomery County schools that participated. “Olney Elementary School won by such a high margin over
PHOTOS BY GEORGE P. SMITH/ FOR THE GAZETTE
Crowds flock to see parade, concert, contests TERRI HOGAN
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hairwoman Helene Rosenheim called this year’s Olney Days celebration “one of the best” in recent years. “This event has really blossomed,” she said. “The crowd was double what it has been in the past.” “The theme of this year’s parade was “31 and Second to None,” and I think that was a very appropriate name for the weekend,” she said. This marked the 31st year of the Olney Days Parade and Rosenheim’s 21st year as Olney Days chair. The weather cooperated, with two days of warm sun-
TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
every other school in Montgomery County. This is because every student, teacher and parent was behind the effort,” Principal Carla Glawe said. “Our school community is dedicated to educating our students about sustainability and environment stewardship, along with natural resource conservation.” Trex is a company that manufactures composite woodalternative decks. Its headquarters is in Winchester, Va. Students learned about proper plastic film and bag recycling by collecting items such as grocery bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, and Ziploc and other reclosable bags from Nov. 15 through April 15. Fourth-graders sorted
See RECYCLING, Page A-12
Berliner continues look at WSSC bills
shine providing the backdrop for a variety of Olney Days event. “We had lots of positive feedback, and good crowds at all of the events,” Rosenheim said. The 12th Joe’s Ride and Stride, to remember area children who have died, brought out more than 500 people, kicking off the weekend early Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon, there was a Shred-It event and a packed audience for the Third Annual Olney Idol competition on the Historic Stage of the Olney Theatre. Crowds descended to Olney Manor Park that evening for fire
Customers seeing amounts higher than usual n
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RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner is asking the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission for more information on why some customers have continued to get bills that are much higher than normal. Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda sent a letter to the chairman of the commission May 14 saying that he wants the commission to provide new information on what might be causing people to receive bills
See OLNEY DAYS, Page A-13
substantially higher than normal. The issue was first raised in March, when Berliner reported that his office had received “dozens and dozens” of complaints about their bills. At the time, WSSC said the heavy snows during the winter had made it hard to read meters and led to a longer than normal billing cycle. People staying home because the weather closed schools and businesses may have also led to more water being used, officials said. Berliner was skeptical at those reasons at the time, and expressed similar disbelief in his letter to WSSC Chairman Jerry
See WSSC, Page A-13
Clergy stand up to fight gun violence at church demonstration Store’s smart-gun plans spark action
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NOAH JONES
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The smart-gun controversy came to a North Bethesda church Thursday, where several clergy members and others rallied against the gun lobby. “I think the more people in our faith traditions can stand up publicly and bear witness to efforts to save God’s children is an effort in the right direc-
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tion,” said the Rev. Roy W. Howard, pastor at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, where the rally was held. He and others are trying “to prevent gun violence, which is the prevention of death,” Howard said. “In the most succinct way we are speaking for life.” For several weeks, the church has been hosting a stark outdoor display of T-shirts representing last year’s gun violence victims that has been traveling to various sites. The rally was held in response to the pressure brought to bear recently on a Rockville gun retailer who initially
planned to sell the 10-round Armatix iP1 smart gun, which can be fired only when the shooter is wearing a special watch or ring with a partnering chip. After receiving what he said were death threats against him and his dog if he sold the gun, co-owner Andy Raymond dropped his plans. “We are for gun-violence prevention,” Howard said. “We believe we can reach that goal by having safe guns.” Howard said he and his fellow clergy speakers understood that they were not gun experts, but they felt the need to stand up publicly to save inno-
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cent people. Several speakers called some gun deaths unnecessary because the technology exists for creating safer, smarter guns. One of the speakers was Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God’s Call. His brother, an FBI agent, and his brother’s partner were gunned down in 1994 in Washington, D.C., by a gun that had a 30-round clip. Miller called for clips of no more than 10 bullets. “I don’t see that we’re going to end gun violence,” Miller said. “But what we
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want to do is bring the gun level down. Instead of losing 100,000 people, we can reduce it to only a couple hundred people.” The speakers made it clear they are not opposed to guns in the general public, but want to reduce gun accidents such as suicide, gun trafficking and children playing with loaded guns. “We are in favor of saving the lives of children and others who cannot help themselves, Howard said. “We need to maim evil and all efforts preventing
See CLERGY, Page A-13
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