&
SPOOKYBUSINESS
The Gazette Reluctant horror film host to haunt AFI Silver festival. B-7
OLNEY
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
25 cents
Thousands remain idled in shutdown
Beloved activist remembered Friends, community members and area officials gather with the immediate family of Carolyn Snowden to honor her life of service with the dedication of Chandlee Mill Road in Sandy Spring on Oct. 1. Snowden’s daughter Cynthia smiles toward the crowd as officials including Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (center) applaud.
Walter Reed employees return to work; Navy scrubs birthday concert
n
BY
STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
O
KATE S. ALEXANDER
n Oct. 1, friends, family and community leaders gathered at the Ross Boddy Community Center in Sandy Spring to memorialize Carolyn Snowden, a Sandy Spring community activist and founder of the Sandy Spring Civic Association, who died Aug. 29 after a lengthy illness. She was 88.
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) unveiled a sign at the intersection of Brooke Road and Chandlee Mill Road dedicating the road to Snowden. A second sign announcing the dedication is located at the intersection of Goldmine Road and Chandlee Mill Road. “One of Carolyn Snowden’s first acts as civic association
president was to have Chandlee Mill Road paved. It had been a dirt road,” said Joy Turner, community liaison for the Sandy Spring Civic Association. The program concluded with a launch of “biodegradable” balloons symbolizing that “Carolyn’s spirit will continue to lift the community,” according to event organizers.
— TERRI HOGAN
Employees at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda went back to work Monday, despite the lingering federal government shutdown. The Department of Defense, under the direction of Secretary Chuck Hagel, eliminated furloughs for employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members, based on a legal interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act, Hagel said in a statement Saturday. However, the law does not allow for a blanket recall of all Defense Department employees, Hagel said in the statement. Walter Reed ordered all general schedule employees back to work Monday at their regularly scheduled times, according to the hospital. Still, thousands of federal
workers remain out of work, as do federal contractors. Bethesda defense giant Lockheed Martin, one of Montgomery County’s largest employers, started furloughing about 2,400 employees companywide on Monday because of the political standoff. The number of sidelined employees was 600 fewer than what Lockheed officials thought on Friday. After Hagel said Saturday that most of the roughly 400,000 civilian employees in that department had been deemed essential for national security, Lockheed officials decided to reduce the number of furloughs. Most of those affected work in civilian programs in the Washington region, said Gordon Johndroe, a Lockheed spokesman. Since the first day of the shutdown on Oct. 1, Maryland has had 16,078 requests for federal unemployment benefits, Maureen O’Connor, spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Monday. Typically, the state sees
See SHUTDOWN, Page A-11
Students give back on the golf course Boys volunteer to help wounded veterans play
n
BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
For the past month, Connor Starkey and Tyler Goehrung, eighth-grade students at St. Elizabeth Catholic School, have started their weekends off by going to the Olney Golf Park, but instead of playing a normal 18 holes, they help set up the
course for a different kind of student. With help from the Salute Military Golf Association, cofounded by professional golfer Jim Estes in 2005, wounded war veterans have the chance to participate in an eight-week clinic that helps them use golf as a way to overcome the physical or mental obstacles caused by serving in the active military. Connor and Tyler, both 13, found out about the program from a flyer during a normal
day at the driving range and asked Estes if they could get involved. The boys then took it a step further and helped recruit a handful of their friends who also liked golf to start volunteering with them. “You know many of them have children. When they see kids out there it puts them at ease,” Estes said. It’s the boys’ job to set up the course with clubs and golf balls for the veterans who often have special needs due to
various handicaps. Some of the players have prosthetic limbs, and others are in wheelchairs and use specially designed equipment provided by the program to make standing up and golfing possible for them. “It’s really inspiring to see someone with no legs or one arm swing a golf club effectively,” Connor said. Estes said the boys do a lot of organizational stuff, but they
See STUDENTS, Page A-12
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Jaleo in Bethesda is offering furloughed federal workers a free flauta sandwich between 3 and 5 p.m. until the partial shutdown ends.
Cities, towns upgrade sites to provide more services Governments take different Digital approaches to using the Web overnment n
Part two in a two-part series
BY
ONLINE EXTRAS n Data mining has both positive and negative sides TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Kyung Lee is Web content manager for Montgomery County’s Office of Public Information.
n Trends and statistics for municipal governments’ and county entities’ websites. www.gazette.net
SYLVIA CARIGNAN AND ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITERS
Early next year, the city of Gaithersburg plans to roll out a new website with better search capabilities and a more user-friendly design. “We’re switching over to a services-based model,” said Andrew
NEWS
SPORTS
Suspects apprehended at hotel, charged in Sept. 25 robbery.
Paint Branch has a new stadium, weight room, one of the county’s top offenses and an undefeated record.
TWO WOMEN ARRESTED IN BANK HEIST A-4
NEW LOOKS GOOD B-1
Automotive Calendar Celebrations Classified Community News Entertainment Opinion School News Sports Please
Barnes, a programmer for Gaithersburg’s website, which currently presents information sorted by departments. The “modern-day look and feel” of the new site will make it easier for residents and business owners to access basic information and services, such as finding out how to apply for a permit or get a recycling bin. With the contractor’s redesign, Gaithersburg joins local governments nationwide trying to meet the demand of higher Web use
while dealing with dwindling resources. “Some see technology as a way to extend services at a lower cost through their websites, while others view it as a cost center that could be cut,” said Todd Sander, executive director for the California-based Center for Digital Government. Gaithersburg, Rockville and Takoma Park are among the Montgomery communities trying to provide
See SERVICES, Page A-17
B-15 A-2 A15 B-11 A-4 B-7 A-16 A-14 B-1
RECYCLE
Check out our Services Directory ADVERTISING INSIDE B SECTION
1906633