VETERANS REFLECT Three men at Hebrew Home in Rockville recall military memories. A-3
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Neighborhood center getting $11M overhaul
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Ross Boddy facility in Sandy Spring adding gym and more parking n
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TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Audrey Rutkove of Rockville votes Tuesday with her children Rebecca Joern, 7, and Spencer Joern, 4, who checks out the voting machine from below at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville.
Rockville, Olney voters hit the polls n
Just exercising their franchise most important to some BY
PEGGY MCEWAN TERRI HOGAN
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STAFF WRITERS
Voters have their reasons. For some, it’s an issue. For others, it’s a candidate they par-
ticularly like — or dislike. Still others say they vote because they can. “Why? I always vote. It’s a citizen’s duty,” said Martin Singelenberg of Rockville, who cast his ballot Tuesday at Luxmanor Elementary School. First-timer Kara Browne, 18, voting at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, agreed. “A lot of people my age don’t bother
Feldman, Berliner ask state to stall Pepco tree-cutting They question if utility is following spirit or letter of trimming laws in Potomac
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KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Weeks after a judge would not stop Pepco from removing trees from private Potomac backyards, two lawmakers are asking the Maryland Public Service Commission to intervene. Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner and state Sen. Brian J. Feldman wrote PSC chairman Kevin Hughes on Friday asking Hughes to stop the utility’s tree-trimming for the next two weeks and investigate whether Pepco is actually following the commission’s tree-trimming regulations. “Every indication in this case suggests that Pepco has gone beyond what is necessary to achieve reliability,” they wrote.
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Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda said he and Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac asked for only a two-week pause in the utility’s tree trimming to “minimize the impact on appropriate treetrimming” but also address what they question as environmental destruction. “We are going to the regulatory masters and saying ‘Really guys? This is what you intended? This is what you think is appropriate?’” Berliner said. Feldman sponsored legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2011 requiring new reliability regulations. “We are seeing more reliability. No question about it,” Berliner said. “This feels over the top. This doesn’t feel like reliability, it feels like environmental destruction.” Pepco spokeswoman Courtney Nogas said in an email that
See TREE, Page A-13
See POLLS, Page A-13
The community gathered Sunday to not only break ground on an improved recreation center, but remember the man it’s named for. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, County Council President Craig Rice and council members Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal and Nancy Navarro participated in the groundbreaking ceremony at the Ross Boddy Neighborhood Recreation Center in Sandy Spring.
The building, at 18529 Brooke Road, was built as a school for black children in the early 1950s. Ross Boddy was its principal. Boddy died in 1996, but his son Troy, who lives nearby in Cloverly, attended the groundbreaking. “I am very proud, and I know my dad would be very happy,” he said. “The community has worked very hard for a long time to make this remodel happen. Compared to other centers, it needed work.” Boddy said he particularly happy that the building’s facade will remain the same, leaving much of the center’s character. “It was a second home for my dad and for all of us,” he said.
See CENTER, Page A-13
RENDERING FROM GRIMM & PARKER
This rendering shows the planned renovations to the Ross Boddy Neighborhood Recreation Center in Sandy Spring.
Tales of life and death highlight book festival n
Rockville event features authors, performance by Molly Ringwald BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Bibliophiles from around the region are expected to con-
verge on the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in Rockville for the Lessans Family Annual Book Festival, now in its 45th year. The festival, which begins Thursday and runs through Nov. 16, will cover a range of topics on Jewish culture and interests, and provide a forum for several local authors.
This year, organizers are trying to make the event a cultural arts festival as well as a literary festival, said Jennifer Smith, director of Arts, Culture and Jewish Life at the community center, which is at 6125 Montrose Road. For example, Thursday night will feature a jazz performance by actress, author and singer Molly Ringwald.
Middle schoolers shoot for stars at physics lab Rockville students visit Johns Hopkins space facility n
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PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
They are only seventh- and eighth-graders, but as they sat at lunch eating pizza, they discussed the Van Allen Belt, magnetic spheres and solar probes. Malik Torres, Ebrahim Cham, Liam Olagbaju and Lalut Alabo, students at Parkland Magnet Middle
SHOT AT PLAYOFFS Sherwood needs help to clinch berth after falling to Paint Branch.
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voting because they think that someone else will do it,” Browne said. “I think it’s important for everyone to vote.” Many polling places had voters waiting outside when they opened at 7 a.m. and the rest of the morning was steady but never too crowded, according Democratic precinct Chairwoman Deborah Coburn, who was at
School for Aerospace Technology in Rockville, were among 25 students from the school at a program Thursday at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel. There they learned about two space missions scientists are working on: the Van Allen Probes and Solar Probe Plus. Chris Peterson-Tardif, the students’ research in astronomy teacher, said there was absolutely a connection between the presentation and what her students are
See LAB, Page A-13
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More than 20 authors will speak on issues ranging from Jewish life to culture, history, politics and other issues. The event also will feature a temporary bookstore with more than 550 titles, Smith said. Among this year’s authors at the festival will be Mark Lee
See FESTIVAL, Page A-13 Ashley Tien (left) and Lanease Paul, seventh-graders at Parkland Middle School in Rockville, don clean suits before moving into labs Thursday at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel. DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE