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SPOOKYBUSINESS Reluctant horror film host to haunt AFI Silver festival. B-7
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Wednesday, October 9, 2013
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Newton ahead in campaign funds race
IDLE TIME
Due to the shutdown, thousands have found themselves with ...
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First of two required campaign reports released last week BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Mark Gabriele (left) and his wife, Beth Edgerton, furloughed federal workers from Bethesda, enjoy lunch together at Jaleo in Bethesda. “Last week felt bizarre, and this week you feel guillty,” Edgerton said. She noted that the “work doesn’t go away” and that they will have to catch up after the furlough ends.
Walter Reed employees return to work; Navy scrubs birthday concert
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KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
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.
See IDLE, Page A-15
Bethesda navigates shutdown amid park closing, newfound downtime What’s a furloughed fed to do? Volunteer
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AGNES BLUM KATE S. ALEXANDER
BY AND
STAFF WRITERS
The Irish tin whistlers are on the move, the international waltzers have found a new home and the plein-air watercolorists are searching the landscape for a new location. In fact, all of the folks enrolled
in Glen Echo Park’s many art, music and dance classes have scrambled to find new places in the area to meet during the partial federal government shutdown, which began Oct. 1. Among the groups seeking a temporary new home is a children’s theater troupe, Adventure TheatreMTC. The theater group hopes to relocate performances of its show “Goodnight Moon” to a different
Candidates for Rockville’s mayor and council in next month’s election turned in their first campaign fund reports Thursday, revealing a wide range of dollar amounts in their war chests. Mayoral candidate Bridget Donnell Newton has raised more money than anyone else so far — more than $17,200 in cash and inkind contributions. She still has more than $11,500 in her campaign’s bank account. Mayoral candidate Mark Pierzchala has raised about $7,900 and has $3,300 remaining. He and four council candidates are running on a slate called “Team Rockville,” which has raised almost $8,500 so far. Most of Team Rockville’s money came from the members of the slate, including Pierzchala. About $1,000 came from contributions directly to the slate. Team Rockville has about $6,400 remaining. At about this time in the 2011 election, mayoral candidate Phyllis Marcuccio had raised more than $13,000, and her opponent, Piotr Gajewski, had raised a little less than $15,000. Over the course of the election, they raised about $23,600 and $21,800, respectively. Six candidates are seeking four council seats. Four of them are running with Pierzchala’s slate: Beryl L. Feinberg, Tom Moore, Virginia Onley and Julie Palakovich Carr. Feinberg has raised about $5,400, Moore has raised $2,700, Onley has raised $3,800 and Palakovich Carr has raised $6,400. The Team Rockville slate kicked off its campaign in March. The two other council candidates, Don Hadley and Claire Marcuccio Whitaker, filed to run for office Sept. 6, the last possible day. So far, Hadley has raised more than $6,200, and Whitaker has raised $3,300. Candidates are required to submit campaign fund reports again Oct. 31 and after the Nov. 5 election on Dec. 5. See the full reports and more election information at rockvillemd.gov/election13.
See VOLUNTEER, Page A-15 ewaibel@gazette.net
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
Rockville looks at how to incorporate facilities into its affordable housing ordinance.
Paint Branch has a new stadium, weight room and one of the county’s top offenses, and is undefeated.
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CHANGES IN SENIOR LIVING?
NEW LOOKS GOOD
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
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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
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