BIGGER AND BETTER Community Night, Taste of Olney return. A-4
NEWS: Wayside students learn about special needs with weeklong series of activities. A-3
The Gazette 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, October 15, 2014
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Illustrator goes digital with children’s book
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Roadwork project set for fall on Interstate 270 Md. 121 bridge to be widened to six lanes
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See GERMAN, Page A-13
Major road upgrades are scheduled to start this fall to serve the planned Cabin Branch outlet center at the southeast corner of Interstate 270 and Clarksburg Road (Md. 121).
MAKING WAY FOR CABIN BRANCH Major road upgrades are scheduled to serve the planned Cabin Branch outlet center at the southeast corner of Interstate 270 and Clarksburg Road (Md. 121). The project will involve widening the bridge over I-270 from four lanes to six, widening an existing northbound exit ramp and adding a new southbound onramp. The road work also will include the straightening of a curve on Clarksburg Road west of the I-270 intersection.
Changes to roads New ramp Pavement removal Planned intersection
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INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
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OH, DANNY BOY!
Play delves into the big life of a little person.
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See JUDGE, Page A-13
Volume 27, No. 21, Two sections, 36 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge is expected to rule this week on a request by group of Potomac residents to temporarily stop Pepco from cutting down trees on their property. Judge Michael D. Mason agreed to hear only four hours of
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inquisition and Pepco’s claims that the trees must be removed not simply pruned. Several plaintiffs testified during the hearing that none of the titles to their homes mentioned the easement, and that every time they tried to work with Pepco on the issue, they were told that state law, not the easement, gave the utility no choice. Goldstein asked several plaintiffs to explain why the trees were important.
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KATE S. ALEXANDER
right to remove the trees under a 1950s document, known as an “inquisition,” an easement which gives it the right to remove trees at its discretion that are within 75 feet of its property line. Plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Goldstein argued that Pepco has shown a lack of good faith and fair dealing in with his clients — the owners of four properties in the Potomac Crest development — and that the court should grant the injunction to allow for a full case on the issue. Plaintiffs questions the legality of the
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oral arguments and testimony on Oct. 8 in the case, in which residents are seeking a preliminary injunction against the utility to prevent it from removing the trees until the court can decide their case. Mason said he plans to rule on the motion for the injunction on Thursday. Eight residents filed the case to stop Pepco from moving forward with a plan to cut down about 50 trees on their properties. The utility claims it has the
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Residents seeking injunction to halt Pepco
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Judge to rule soon on tree cutting in Potomac n
See ROADWORK, Page A-13
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Merle Szimkowski had only been in America for two weeks, but she already knew she wants to come back. Szimkowski, 16, was one of 12 German students staying with families of students at Thomas S. Wootton High School. She said everything here, from the streets to the schools, was bigger than
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Sept. 28 and left Sunday. In between, they visited Washington, D.C., and New York, along with taking time to explore Rockville, Great Falls and the surrounding area. On Friday, they had lunch with Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton at City Hall. “Busy” and “big” were two words that Annika Oehmann, 16, used to describe America. Overall the U.S. was better than she expected, although its size makes it more unorganized, she said. Oehmann stayed with the family of
VIRGINIA TERHUNE
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RYAN MARSHALL
she expected. New York was “amazing,” and they went to sites including Rockefeller Center and the Sept. 11 memorial. Wootton was different than she expected, not like the schools in movies she had seen, Szimkowski said Friday. She said she hadn’t expected Americans to be as welcoming as they were. She said she would love to come back and see more of America, including traveling to the West Coast. The group was made up of 12 students and two teachers from the Theodor Heuss Schule in Rockville’s sister city of Pinneberg, Germany. They arrived on
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The project will involve widening the Clarksburg Road bridge over I-270 from four lanes to six, widening an existing northbound exit ramp and adding a new southbound onramp, according to plans. “This is the largest improvement we’ll be building for Cabin Branch, and we’re anxious to get going,” said Sylke Knuppel, director of land development
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TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
“It’s been amazing drawing and painting without the mess and expense of more traditional art mediums,” says Bobbie Gilbert Kogok, a Rockville artist who now uses a computer tablet.
German students get slice of American life Everything was bigger than expected, say visitors from Rockville’s sister city
See BUS, Page A-13
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See ARTIST, Page A-15
Montgomery County police officials say they plan to slowly expand a program that places cameras on school buses to allow time to analyze where the cameras should go. Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice said, however, that he wants to see a quicker pace when it comes to
adding the cameras that catch drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus. The county has 25 cameras installed on Montgomery County Public Schools buses to catch individuals who drive past a bus while its stop arm is extended with flashing red lights. The cameras were placed on bus routes with the highest number of passing violations. The county is leasing the 25 cameras under a contract costing about $250,000 per year. The cameras have captured
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Why do something the old-fashioned way when modern technology can produce equally good results more easily? That’s where Rockville artist Bobbie Gilbert Kogok stands philosophically with her work — although she is quick to point out that technology alone does not do the work. “You still have to know how to draw,” Kogok said. “Every line is yours.” Kogok, 59, just finished writing and illustrating her third children’s book, “Percival Pig Finds His Manners” (LifeRich Publishing). It was all done on her computer tablet using a program called Paper. The drawings of Percival and his surroundings look like watercolor paintings in Kogok’s book. She demonstrated how she achieves the effect digitally. The computer program offers several drawing tools and ways to select colors and blend them. With either her finger or the tip of a stylus, Kogok mutes the colors, giving them a washed effect.
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LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
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Next phase would require new full-time position
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Police plan slow growth for bus camera program
Rockville artist trades in brushes for bytes n
SPORTS: Rockville High senior returns quickly from surgery to correct scoliosis. B-1
PLANNED CABIN BRANCH OUTLET CENTER SOURCE: KCI TECHNOLOGIES
HEATHER LIPINSKI REEVES/THE GAZETTE