SCREEN GEM New app takes on cyberbullying, sexting. A-4
The Gazette
A&E: Comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade comes to BlackRock. B-4
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | WHEATON | BURTONSVILLE DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
About 95 residents notified they have to move n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
See SKATES, Page A-11
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
(From left) Ashley Reives of Washington, D.C., Jonathan Mead of Hyattsville, Rahul Mitra of Washington, D.C., and Rachel Rath of Washington, D.C., members of Engineers Without Borders’ D.C. chapter, came to Colesville Presbyterian Church in Silver Spring to thank church members for their support in a project to bring clean water to the people of Mbokop, a rural village in Cameroon.
Silver Spring church backs clean water project Colesville Presbyterian helping fund work by Engineers Without Borders
n
BY
CAMEROON CLEAN WATER PROJECT RESOURCES
KEVIN JAMES SHAY
n Engineers Without Borders project website: http://www.ewb-dc.org/projects/cameroon
STAFF WRITER
With a growing number of members of Colesville Presbyterian Church from Cameroon, Becky Clapp searched the Internet for a development project in that African nation that the northern Silver Spring church could support. One of the first sites she found was Engineers Without Borders, a 15-year-old humanitarian organization that has developed almost 700 projects in 45 countries. The church partnered with the group’s Washington, D.C., regional chapter in 2013 and has donated about $15,000 so far, along with other means of support. “I’ve been inspired by the work this organization has done,” said Clapp, who heads the
n Project blog: https://ewbdccameroon .wordpress.com
Work on Carroll Avenue bridge in Takoma Park expected to begin in August BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Takoma Park residents on Monday asked for more stop signs and other measures to address detoured traffic in their neighborhoods due to a major reconstruction of the bridge along Carroll Avenue. Preliminary construction on the Carroll Avenue project is planned to begin in August, but the actual bridge closure will not occur until six to nine months after that, Takoma Park Public Works Director Daryl Braithwaite told council members. Then,
church’s Water of Life Committee, which oversees the partnership. “It’s a very talented and dedicated group.” About one-fourth of the people in Cameroon do not have access to clean drinking water and less than half use improved sanitation facilities, said Jonathan Mead, an environmental geologist and president of Engineers Without to provide the remote Mbokop settlement of Mangi with a spring box and gravity-fed distribution sys-
the bridge is slated to close for a year, she said. Some said they doubted the bridge would be closed for just a year with the usual delays in such projects. “We should think of it as a two-year closure rather than one,” Councilman Fred Schultz said. The State Highway Administration has incentives in place for the contractor to meet the schedule, Braithwaite said. The state has communicated more with Takoma Park in the Carroll project so far than it did during the work on the New Hampshire Avenue bridge, she said. “It’s been a different relationship,” Braithwaite said. Residents living along streets such as Maple and Flower avenues asked for speed bumps, stop signs, temporary traffic lights,
SPRING FORWARD
See PROJECT, Page A-11
Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday. Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour.
1930705
turn restrictions and making certain streets one way. Council members worked on a list of items based on residents’ requests to ask the state to either provide or help the city do so. “There are low-cost safety measures that we can advance,” such as four-way stop signs and advanced message signs, said Troy Jacobs, who lives on Flower Avenue. Others requested speed bumps along Maple and Maplewood and clearer signage to mark the detours. Officials plan two detours for traffic that normally goes along the Carroll Avenue bridge over Sligo Creek Parkway. One will be for trucks using University Boule-
See TRAFFIC, Page A-11
INDEX Automotive Business Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
Two Montgomery County assisted and independent living facilities are closing by June 1. Residents and family members were told in letters that they have to find new homes. Springhouse of Silver Spring and Springhouse of Bethesda are being marketed for sale by the centers’ property owner, HCP Inc., a health care real estate investment trust, according to the letters. “Unfortunately, it is possible that the potential buyers of Springhouse of Silver Spring may not continue to operate the property as a senior living facility,” Allison Morrow, regional director of operations for HCR ManorCare, wrote in a Feb. 25 letter to residents and family members of the Silver Spring center. HCR manages and operates the Silver Spring and
B-12 A-10 A-2 B-8 B-4 A-12 B-1
Volume 28, No. 7, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
Bethesda facilities, among others. “Therefore, we will be closing Springhouse of Silver Spring by June 1, 2015.” Residents and family members of the Bethesda facility received a similar letter. The June 1 date is “meant to be a target date to give residents and their families an idea on timing,” Rick Rump, a spokesman for HCR ManorCare, wrote in an e-mail. “It is not final and may need to be adjusted as we get closer. Our residents and their families can be assured that we will work closely with them and that we are confident they will receive the assistance they need to find a new home.” The letter shocked Michael Greenberg. He had just helped his 80-year-old mother, Edith Greenberg, move into Springhouse, not far from his Silver Spring home, last October. The facility’s rates were more reasonable than most other centers he had reviewed, and he had been satisfied with Spring-
See CENTERS, Page A-11
Purple Line forum plumbs pros, cons Silver Spring gathering draws supporters, foes of light-rail project
n
Residents seek answers to project traffic n
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Competitors from Wheaton, elsewhere in county aim for Olympics n
Fresh off finishing first and second in junior ice dancing at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, four Montgomery County athletes are representing the United States this week in the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Estonia. Quinn Carpenter of Wheaton and Lorraine McNamara of Germantown won the junior ice dancing gold medal in January at the national championships in Greensboro, N.C. Michael Parsons and sister Rachel Parsons, both from Rockville, won the silver medal in that competition. The skaters often train at the Wheaton Ice Arena and were there Feb. 24 to perform in a celebratory event. Three speed skaters who represented the U.S. at the 2015 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Japan last weekend also were there: Richard Montgomery High School junior April Shin, Churchill High School graduate Shaner LeBauer and Thomas Hong of Laurel. Shin finished seventh in the 1500 meters, while Hong placed 12th and LeBauer 27th in the 1000 meters. Carpenter, 19, learned to skate at the Wheaton arena when he was young and joined the Wheaton Ice Skating Acad-
25 cents
Assisted living centers to close
Local athletes take to skates BY
SPORTS: Successful swimmer puts Springbrook on the map. B-1
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
It’s the best of projects, it’s the worst of projects. To paraphrase Dickens, that was the picture painted by a supporter and an opponent of the Purple Line at a forum Monday night in Silver Spring on the proposed $2.45 billion, 16-mile light-rail project that would link Bethesda and New Carrollton. On the one hand, the project
would be a partial solution to the Washington, D.C., region’s transit problems and a business generator. But on the other hand, detractors say, it’s too expensive and won’t deliver on the cost to build it. The Purple Line is currently under review by the state Department of Transportation. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he hopes to make a decision on the project — expected to cost $55 million a year to operate and maintain — by May, according to The Washington Post. While the pros and cons were later heard inside the AFI
See FORUM, Page A-11
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Rich Parsons, vice chairman of the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance, argues for the Purple Line at a forum Monday night in Silver Spring sponsored by the nonprofit institute.
WINTERIZE YOUR HOME
Please
RECYCLE
SEE HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES INSIDE ADVERTISING INSIDE A SECTION