NEW PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING CENTER County breaks ground on $69 million project. A-7
The Gazette
SPORTS: Wootton’s co-captains have been helping each other improve for years. B-1
NEWS: Wheaton structure gives glimpse of post-Civil War AfricanAmerican settlements. A-3
ROCKVILLE | ASPEN HILL | POTOMAC | OLNEY DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
25 cents
Class of ’64 gives back to Rockville high school
Olney ‘in a different place now’ n
Plans for civic center, town commons face re-examination TERRI HOGAN
BY
STAFF WRITER
As the Olney Town Center Advisory Committee begins work on creating a concept plan for a civic center and town commons, its members are trying to determine if this vision still is a community priority. The committee — comprising members from local civic organizations, homeowner associations, businesses and county agencies — is chartered by the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission to create a community-based vision of how a new town center would look and how it would function in relation to the surrounding neighborhoods. When the committee was chartered, one of its tasks was to plan a civic center and town commons area in the town center, the 90-acre commercial area surrounding the intersection of Md. 97 and Md. 108. Now that they have completed other appointed tasks, members are ready to revisit the concept. The idea dates to 2000, when Olney had just experienced a major population boom. Community leaders felt that county services weren’t delivered in a cohesive manner and didn’t have adequate space. There were potential opportunities, with the pending redevelopment of the library and talk of relocating the post office. The idea was to have county and local services housed jointly, and innovative approaches and public/ private partnerships were proposed to make the idea a reality. At that time, the Greater Olney Civic Association and the Olney Chamber of Commerce jointly sent a letter to the county executive about opportunities to create a community center. A task force was formed, a proposal was drafted and endorsements were obtained. In 2005 the Olney Master Plan was updated, and included recommendations to create a civic center with a major public open space designed to accommodate a variety of functions, including a place for public gatherings and events. By 2008, the Olney Town Center Advisory Committee had completed a preliminary concept for the civic center and town commons, and had identified possible tenants and space requirements. Fast-forward to 2015, and the committee is ready to create the final concept plan for a civic center and town commons,
See CENTER, Page A-12
INDEX Automotive Business Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
1934194
$1,000 donation to help fund historical display at Richard Montgomery n
BY
STAFF WRITER
hit $12.2 billion in 2014, up from $11.8 billion in 2013 and $9.2 billion in 2009, said Chris Higginbotham, a spokesman for the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. Maryland’s largest export market is Canada, at $1.9 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia at $915 million, he said. Barbara Zakheim of Keith R. Scott Associates in Silver Spring said events such as Wednesday’s are good opportunities for “contact, networking and hopefully learning something.” U.S. companies often focus on the domestic market and don’t take advantage of the many international opportunities that are available, Zakheim said.
Members of Richard Montgomery High School’s Class of 1964 witnessed the beginning of a tumultuous decade when they were students. Now a donation from the class will give current students an idea of what Rockville and Richard Montgomery High were like a half-century ago. The class donated $1,000 left over from its 50th reunion to help create a display of pictures, articles, paintings and other memorabilia from the 1950s and ’60s in the school’s main office. The class had 457 graduates, said Tom Curtis, a member of the committee that helped organize the reunion in Rockville in October. The committee tracked down all but about 150 alumni, and more than 200 attended the renion, he said. After the reunion, the class had a surplus of about $2,000, and at a meeting soon after the committee decided to donate some money to try to develop a history of the school through photos and personal memories, he said. Rockville in the ’50s and ’60s was the type of community where as a 10-year-old Curtis could walk from his home to downtown to see a movie without his parents thinking anything of it, he said. But the outside world sometimes intruded on the idyllic environment. His high school years included the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the
See FORUM, Page A-12
See CLASS, Page A-12
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Participants enjoy a panel discussion at the international development forum Feb. 11 at Johns Hopkins University in Rockville.
Rockville forum helps state businesses reach the world Companies seek agency assistance in growing exports n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Exports by Maryland companies broke a record in 2014, and business leaders from around the region gathered Wednesday in Rockville to try to keep that number climbing this year. The international development forum at the Johns Hopkins University campus was organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, and the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. The roughly
80 people at the conference were a mix of representatives from small or medium-sized businesses that are just starting to move into the international market, plus representatives of companies already operating internationally, said Aisha Jones of the Commerce Department’s Export Assistance Center. Most of the participants were there to get information on how to work with the Commerce Department’s advocacy office, the U.S. Agency for International Development and nongovernmental agencies that help companies working overseas, she said — essentially a “how-to” session for companies exploring international opportunities. It comes as Maryland’s exports
School board approves budget reflecting loss of state aid $10 million cut from Starr’s original proposal n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County school board has approved a fiscal 2016 operating budget $10.2 million lower than what Superintendent Joshua P. Starr pro-
posed in December. The county school system’s proposed operating budget for next year now stands at $2.39 billion. The budget moves next to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and the Montgomery County Council for approval. The amount cut from the original proposal roughly matches the $10.3 million Montgomery County would lose in
projected state education funding, under Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposed budget. Starr revised his original budget request following the release of Hogan’s budget. The main loss of state money for Montgomery comes from Hogan’s decision to cut the Geographic Cost of Education Index in half, a $17.7 million loss for the county.
The index is a formula that directs additional money to counties where the cost of living and education are higher. The governor is not required to provide funding based on the index. School officials said Feb. 10, when the budget request was approved, that the district could face more cuts from the county. The proposed school system operating budget marks an in-
crease of 5.1 percent compared to the district’s current budget. Under the revised budget, the school system would cut $1.8 million, mostly by reducing and eliminating staff positions. These cuts deepen similar ones Starr had already proposed, meaning the loss of 24 more fulltime equivalent positions.
See BUDGET, Page A-12
Lawmakers take up ‘death with dignity’ bill Rockville woman advocates for legislation n
BY
GRACE TOOHEY
CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE
Alexa Fraser of Rockville received a call in June from a close friend, telling her that her 90-year-old father had taken 19 pain pills in attempt to die — but it didn’t work. Though it wasn’t an easy to hear, Fra-
ser said, she understood what her father wanted to do, so they gave him space. “I said there’s nothing to do but love him,” she said, holding back tears. Later that day, he once again tried to end his life by cutting himself. But still, his body held on. Finally, he utilized his plan C, a gun to his head, to kill himself, Fraser said. Alex Fraser was an investor and lived in Kensington. “It’s rotten, it’s terrible, it’s not how it should be,” Fraser, 57, said, “[But] it was not his worst scenario.”
Her father’s Parkinson’s disease had slowly become more painful and he suffered many falls, Fraser said. He was terrified that he would end up in a nursing home where they would keep him alive beyond his will. Fraser, an environmental researcher studying to become a Unitarian Universalist minister, said she is optimistic that Marylanders could soon have the right to choose a dignified death.
See BILL, Page A-12
A&E B-13 A-13 A-2 B-9 B-5 A-11 A-14 B-1
RYAN MARSHALL
NOW BOARDING Montgomery Playhouse’s “Boeing, Boeing” has main character feeling a little jet-lagged.
B-5
Volume 28, No. 7, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
GRACE TOOHEY/CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE
The suicide of her 90-year-old father inspired Alexa Fraser of Rockville to advocate for a “death with dignity” law in Maryland.
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